I consider Shields as a CB loss this season, too. While he didn't play much last year, they expected to have him, he was in the prime of his career, and planning for replacing him is happening this year, just like the loss of a free agent.
The premise of the thread was comparing this year to last year. For all practical purposes, they did not have Shields last year.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen