Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bears Roster Deadline Recap

It’s that time of the year again, when decisions have to be made. Some simple, some a little bit left field and always a shock or two. This could be a long one, so Bear (bare) with me… as we go through the 53-man roster moves

BEARS 53-MAN ROSTER CUTS

Straight down to business, the Bears took their time initially to start making cuts. Other teams had made moves before we had looked to do anything, possibly waiting and seeing who could be available on the waivers before making decisions?

But the moves started to happen and 21 men were waived, some of which you would be too shocked about, including un-drafted rookies: Sam Kamara, Dan Archibong, Brian Johnson and Charles Snowden.

There were some cuts that weren’t shocking but illustrate the nature of the beast with players like Ryan Nall, Artavis Pierce and 4th round pick Riley Ridley, all with regular season experience falling victim to the cuts.

Veterans Artie Burns and Desmond Trufant were let go, but coupled with the loss of Thomas Graham Jr. and Tre Robinson, left the Bears with 4 cornerbacks in the entire 53-man squad and Jaylon Johnson, only in his 2nd year officially CB1. That’s a worrying sign particularly after losing Kyle Fuller in the off-season.

But then there’s our Wide Receivers. Dazz Newsome, surprisingly, joined Ridley in being cut along with a few other fringe players, leaving the Bears with 5 receivers on the team. But here’s the kicker, only Darnell Mooney is going to be under contract at the start of the 2022 season. 1 receiver. 1. A crazy state of affairs.

With the cuts being made and the 53-man roster being finalised, we had a few special mentions to make:

  •  Rodney Adams, congratulations. The man worked his ass off for a spot in the 53. He showed a good connection with Fields and such a good story to get behind as a Bear fan. Something we would all want to work out well
  •  Khyiris Tonga, 250th pick overall, showed the grit needed by fighting his way into the roster. A great showing by the 7th rounder
  •  Jesper Horsted did it. The 3 Touchdowns in the final pre-season game against the Titans gave him the boost needed to break into the team
  •  Caleb Johnson, an outside linebacker, was the only un-drafted free agent that made the team.
  •  Tarik Cohen was placed on the PUP missing at least the first 6 games of the season
  •  Teven Jenkins, the OLineman drafted to be Justin Fields future LT; and Danny Trevathan were added to the injury reserve list.

BEARS WAIVERS

The Bears u-turned on what had transpired the previous day, as they resigned veteran CB Artie Burns and CB Marqui Christian. Was there some regret? Maybe not enough quality on waivers versus guys who knew the system? Whatever the reason, both were brought back and offer some valuable depth to the secondary.

Following them was Nsimba Webster, the WR waived by 49ers. He has some good value in the return game whilst offering some competition for the WR3 slot.

And then a sweet one. WR Breshad Perriman. The man is fast; his combine 40yard times were 4.24 and 4.27…. He also averaged 15.8yards per reception throughout his career, a good option to have especially if trying to play out of your own 10-20yard lines. The man has got talent.

But with 2 WRs coming into the team, a loss was to be made. Rodney Adams. I took this hard. The guy fought his was into the 53 and must have felt so accomplished when the roster was confirmed. The confidence in himself after his hard work paid off, only to be knocked down the very next day. I hope he lands in a good place, he deserves it.

BEARS PRACTICE SQUAD

With all the moves and groves, though they felt confident, the Bears office probably breathed a small sign of relief as they could bring some of their waived players back home to give them extra time to develop.

Rookies like Thomas Graham Jr., Dazz Newsome and Charles Snowden along with NFL seasoned players like Ryan Nall and Artavis Piecre. Graham Jr. and Newsome I am particularly happy with, as they have good potential in positions the Bears will need to keep a close eye on when going into next off-season.

The Practice Squad stands as:

  •  Ryan Nall, RB
  •  Artavis Pierce, RB
  •  Dazz Newsome, WR
  •  Isaiah Coulter, WR
  •  Jon’Vea Johnson, WR
  •  Dieter Eiselen, C
  •  Arlington Hambright, G
  •  Auzoyah Alufohai, NT
  •  Charles Snowden, LB
  •  Sam Kamara, LB
  •  Thomas Graham Jr., CB
  •  Teez Tabor, S
  •  Brian Johnson, K
  • * 3 spaces are still available to fill

BEARS 53-MAN ROSTER LIST

So with all that, here is the current 53-man roster (at the time of the article):

QBs

  •  Andy Dalton
  •  Justin Fields
  •  Nick Foles

Wide Receivers

  •  Allen Robinson II
  •  Darnell Mooney
  •  Marquise Goodwin
  •  Damiere Byrd
  •  Breshad Perriman
  •  Nsimba Webster

Running Backs

  •  David Montgomery
  •  Khalil Herbert
  •  Damien Williams

Tight Ends

  •  Cole Kmet
  •  Jimmy Graham
  •  Jesse James
  •  J.P. Holtz
  •  Jesper Horsted

OL

  •  Teven Jenkins (Placed on Injury Reserve)
  •  Sam Mustipher
  •  Germain Ifedi
  •  James Daniels
  •  Lachavious Simmons
  •  Cody Whitehair
  •  Alex Bars
  •  Larry Borom
  •  Elijah Wilkinson

DL

  •  Akiem Hicks
  •  Eddie Goldman
  •  Bilal Nichols
  •  Angelo Blackson
  •  Khyiris Tonga

ILB

  •  Roquan Smith
  •  Danny Trevathan (Placed on Injury Reserve)
  •  Alec Ogletree
  •  Christian Jones
  •  Caleb Johnson
  •  Josh Woods
  •  Joel Iyiegbuniwe

OLB

  •  Khalil Mack
  •  Robert Quinn
  •  Trevis Gibson
  •  Jeremiah Attaochu

Cornerbacks

  •  Jaylon Johnson
  •  Artie Burns
  •  Duke Shelley
  •  Kindle Vildor
  •  Marqui Christian
  •  Xavier Crawford

Safeties

  •  Eddie Jackson
  •  Tashaun Gipson Sr.
  •  DeAndre Houston-Carson
  •  Deon Bush

Special Teams

  •  Cairo Santos
  •  Pat O’Donnell
  •  Patrick Scales

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