Rookie contract hero: Tarik Cohen is the perfect do-everything fit for the Bears

Running. Receiving. Punt returns. Even throwing the dang ball. Cohen’s a special player — and he’s cheap, too.

Dec 6, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

There are several factors that have turned the Bears around from NFC North cellar dweller to the division’s top team. Khalil Mack escaped the orbit of Oakland’s garbage planet and regained his status as a defensive player of the year candidate by shredding opposing blockers in Chicago. Mitchell Trubisky utilized newly signed weapons like Trey Burton and Allen Robinson to showcase the talent that made him the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The 8-4 club currently boasts top-five bonafides in both scoring offense and scoring defense through 13 weeks of the 2018 season.

But hidden behind a towering group of blockers is a waterbug-quick tailback who brings a rarely contained chaos to the Bears’ offense and special teams. And his versatility could be the key to Chicago’s first playoff berth since 2010.

Tarik Cohen has developed from a safety valve in his rookie year to an indispensable part of one of the league’s top offenses. His versatility was on full display in Week 13. Though his Bears lost an overtime nail-biter against the Giants, Cohen found a way to shine; he had eight carries for 30 yards, 12 (twelve!) catches on 14 targets for 156 yards, a pair of punt returns for 15 yards, and a game-tying touchdown pass with zero seconds left on the clock:

It was the sixth game of the season where Cohen gained more than 100 yards rushing, receiving, and returning punts. The Bears are only 3-3 in those games, but Cohen’s value as an emerging young playmaker has been a major factor in turning an offense that averaged 16.5 points per game last season to 28.7 points per game this season.

What’s spurred Cohen’s rise in 2018?

Cohen’s rising value in Chicago isn’t just a function of a player developing after his rookie year. New Bears head coach Matt Nagy has built an offense around versatile playmakers, valuing athleticism and flexibility over a player’s ability to master any one function on the field. That’s put emphasis on players like Burton (already a career-high 38 catches and 448 yards on the season), Taylor Gabriel (eight carries and a career-high 54 receptions), and Cohen.

But that’s also meant a smaller role for Jordan Howard, the team’s lead back in 2016 and 2017. Howard is a modest receiver out of the backfield, which limits his value in Nagy’s spread-the-wealth offense. As a result, his carries per game have dipped from 17.3 in 2017 to 14.8 in 2018. After taking the field for 64.8 percent of his team’s snaps as a rookie, he’s down to 57.9 percent this fall.

Cohen’s snap counts have moved in the opposite direction, rising from 36.4 percent in 2017 to 46.2 percent in 2018. While there are always going to be concerns about the durability of a 5’6, 181-pound player, he’s handled his extra responsibilities with aplomb in his second year. He has yet to miss a game as a pro, even as his combined touches and targets per game have risen from 8.8 to 11.1.

It makes sense Nagy would upgrade Cohen’s role in 2018. After all, he is the player whose vision and absurd lateral quickness gave us plays like this:

And this:

That shiftiness has been golden on special teams. He currently leads the league in punt returns and punt return yards, and his 12 yards/return average is a major reason why the Bears rank sixth in the NFL when it comes to starting field position.

But Cohen’s reverse-field freestyling also has its share of negative effects. He has 21 career carries of 10 yards or more, but also 33 carries that resulted in negative yards; 22 of those ended in a loss of 3 yards or more. Cohen is football’s Mark Reynolds — he’s either going to hit a home run or strike out, with little variance in between.

The Bears have negated those vicious swings by involving him more in the passing game, which gets him out in space where his fast-twitch jukes can devastate opponents. He currently ranks fifth among running backs with 59 receptions, behind other receiving standouts like Christian McCaffrey, James White, Saquon Barkley, and Alvin Kamara. His 11.2 yards per reception are more than any currently rostered tailback.

There’s immense value in that. And the good news for Chicago is that Cohen is going to be cheap as hell to keep around in 2019.

What’s Cohen going to cost the Bears in 2020?

Cohen is taking up $713,914 in cap space this year while giving his team approximately $6 million in value, creating nearly $5.3 million in surplus value for a rebuilding Bears squad. That money, along with the $20+ million in savings created by the rookie contracts of Trubisky and Howard has allowed the club to invest in bringing complementary playmakers like Burton, Gabriel, and Robinson — all of whom have added an extra dimension to the Chicago offense and helped speed along Trubisky’s development as a passer.

But Cohen’s savings will come to an end in either 2020 (if the team signs him to a contract extension) or 2021 (if he’s allowed to reach free agency. Gauging his value moving forward is tricky, but fortunately there’s an analogue for a 5’6 tailback who makes major contributions in the passing game and special teams: Darren Sproles.

Sproles and Cohen, as diminutive but potent do-everything backs, will be forever linked. Cohen even welcomed the comparisons back when he was making his case back at the 2017 NFL Combine.

Like Cohen, Sproles came into the league as a fourth-round pick and exceeded expectations over the course of his rookie contract. But the Chargers weren’t sold on him as a long-term back thanks to durability concerns, opting to franchise tag him in 2009 and then sign him to a one-year deal the following season as a restricted free agent. This worked out great for him — he stayed healthy and made nearly $14 million those two years — and set him up for a pair of lucrative contracts (for a running back) as he neared and then crested his 30s.

When Sproles hit the free market, his average annual salary in modest deals with the Saints and Eagles was pegged at $3.5 million per season — a top 20 amount at his position and a top 25 figure for wide receivers in 2011; $6 million of his original four-year, $14 million deal with New Orleans was guaranteed. He not only exceeded expectations in that deal, but also proved to be worth a three-year, $10.5 million restructuring after being traded to the Eagles in 2014. When healthy, he’s still a valuable asset as a versatile playmaker despite now being in his 14th season as a pro.

The similarly talented Cohen could follow the same track, but with some extra cash thanks to his youth — while Sproles was 28 when he signed his first multi-year deal, Cohen will either be 25 or 26 when he re-ups in Chicago. Assuming the Bears don’t use the franchise tag to keep him in town on a single-season prove-it deal, a Sproles-like contract in 2020 would look something like four years and $26 million, with roughly $11.1 million in guarantees.

That’s an overpay for a traditional tailback who averages only six carries per game, but it could be a bargain for a player who makes opponents uncomfortable as an unpredictable receiver from the backfield and an electric punt returner. Cohen’s diverse skill set makes him a perfect fit in the NFL’s evolving offense. He’s built for a platoon as a player who doesn’t demand the ball but can churn out significant yardage in limited touches no matter where you use him.

Factor in his ability to score from anywhere on the field, and you’ve got a player who could wind up underpaid at $6.5 or 7 million per season. The Bears will have at least one season after 2018 to figure out if Cohen can see his Sproles comparison all the way through to a decade-plus of electric playmaking.

Other rookie contract studs who upped their value in Week 13:

Nick Mullens, QB, 49ers (414 passing yards, 2 TDs in a 43-16 loss to the Seahawks)

Dante Pettis, WR, 49ers (129 receiving yards, 2 TDs in a 43-16 loss to the Seahawks)

Carson Wentz, QB, Eagles (306 passing yards, 2 TDs in a 28-13 win over Washington)

Phillip Lindsay, RB, Broncos (157 rushing yards, 2 TDs in a 24-10 win over the Bengals)

Deion Jones, LB, Falcons (15 tackles, 1 sack in 26-16 loss to the Ravens)

Jamal Adams, S, Jets (11 tackles, 1 forced fumble in a 26-22 loss to the Titans)

Xavien Howard, CB, Dolphins (2 INTs in a 21-17 win over the Bills)