The Chicago Bears have submitted their initial 53-man roster to the NFL office as the league’s deadline arrived Tuesday at 3 p.m. Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus will now turn their focus ahead to the regular season.
In addition to the pair of trades Poles made to add Darrell Taylor and Chris Williams to his defensive line over the weekend, the team continued refining its depth chart in recent days with a final series of moves Tuesday.
With the Sept. 8 season opener against the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field closing in, here are all of the latest roster developments.
Wednesday
The Bears signed 14 players to the practice squad, including quarterback Austin Reed.
One day after trimming their roster to 53 players, the Bears re-signed several of their cuts to the practice squad: linebackers Micah Baskerville and Carl Jones; tight end Stephen Carlson; offensive linemen Theo Benedet and Jake Curhan; wide receiver Collin Johnson; safety Quindell Johnson; defensive linemen Byron Cowart, Jamree Kromah and Dashaun Mallory; defensive back Tarvarius Moore; quarterback Austin Reed; and cornerbacks Reddy Steward and Ro Torrence.
Reed, the undrafted rookie from Western Kentucky, returns to the Bears as their third quarterback after the team cut him and Brett Rypien.
Steward, an undrafted rookie from Troy, is a notable addition after he made some plays during training camp. Collin Johnson is another player worth mentioning after he played in three games for the Bears last season.
The team can still sign two more players to the practice squad and can add a 17th player if he comes from the international program.
Tuesday
Velus Jones Jr. has made the initial 53-man roster.
The Bears asked Jones to make a position switch from receiver to running back midway through training camp and Jones responded by rushing for a team-best 158 yards on 25 carries with touchdown runs of 4 and 39 yards over the final three preseason games. That was enough to convince Poles and Eberflus that he was worth keeping around as an explosive playmaker who can help the Bears as a kickoff returner and a complementary piece on offense.
Jones, a third-round draft pick in 2022, totaled only 11 catches, 127 yards and one TD as a receiver in his first two seasons with the Bears but now gets a chance to redefine himself in the backfield.
Other roster bubble players who made the team Tuesday included defensive lineman Dominique Robinson, defensive end Daniel Hardy and center Doug Kramer Jr.
The Bears released quarterback Brett Rypien on Tuesday morning. Other notable cuts included fullback Khari Blasingame, receiver Collin Johnson, safety Adrian Colbert and cornerback Greg Stroman Jr.
The Bears already were set with starting quarterback Caleb Williams and backup Tyson Bagent. But Rypien has provided a veteran presence for the young quarterbacks room during training camp. Rypien now could sign with another team or he and the Bears could elect for him to return to the practice squad, which feels like a distinct possibility.
Rypien has played in 10 games and started four over four NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams. During the preseason this month, he completed 24 of his 34 pass attempts for 335 yards with three TDs and a passer rating of 131.4.
Undrafted rookie quarterback Austin Reed was also waived Tuesday.
The Bears’ termination of Blasingame’s contract is simply a matter of roster mechanics. The veteran fullback, according to a league source, is expected to re-sign with the team Wednesday when a roster spot opens following a yet-to-be-disclosed injured reserve move.
Johnson, meanwhile, had a big showing in the Bears’ first preseason game against the Houston Texans, but he has been out with an undisclosed injury for several weeks. Johnson, who played in three games for the Bears last season, could be a candidate to be signed to the practice squad.
Colbert has been in the NFL since 2017 and has played in 41 games with 22 starts. He flashed at times this preseason, but the Bears have good safety depth with Elijah Hicks and Jonathan Owens behind starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker.
Others cut Tuesday included cornerbacks Reddy Stewart, Leon Jones, Ro Torrence and Tarvarius Moore; tight ends Stephen Carlson and Brenden Bates; defensive linemen Byron Cowart, Jamree Kromah and Dashaun Mallory; linebackers Micah Baskerville, Paul Moala and Carl Jones Jr.; offensive linemen Jake Curhan, Theo Benedet and Aviante Collins; long snapper Cameron Lyons and punter Corliss Waitman.
The Bears will have the opportunity to bring many of those players back to their 17-player practice squad later this week should they clear waivers.
Nothing is official, but there is a good chance long snapper Patrick Scales will open the season on injured reserve.
Scales, 36, has not played since the Hall of Fame Game against the Houston Texans when he suffered a back injury.
If Scales begins the season on IR, he would be eligible to return as early as Week 5 when the Bears host the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 6.
Scales has not missed a regular-season game since the 2017 season when he suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game at Tennessee. If he’s not available, the Bears will have to pivot and may likely explore adding a veteran long snapper after the rest of the league completes its cuts. Cameron Lyons had been filling in for Scales during training camp and the preseason but was let go Tuesday. Lyons has never appeared in a regular-season NFL game. He was with the New York Giants during training camp last summer.
The Bears placed two players on IR on Tuesday with a designation to return — defensive end Jacob Martin and offensive tackle Larry Borom.
The team took advantage of a revision to league rules that allows all teams to place up to two players on IR at the roster deadline without needing to use one of their 53 spots to do so. In addition, the Bears placed receiver/punt returner Dante Pettis on season-ending IR.
Monday
Third-year offensive lineman Ja’Tyre Carter headlined a list of nine players the Bears waived on Monday. The others were defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour, receivers John Jackson and Peter LeBlanc, offensive lineman Jerome Carvin, defensive lineman Jaylon Hutchings, defensive back Quindell Johnson, and linebackers Paul Moala and Javin White.
Carter, a seventh-round pick out of Southern in 2022, played in 13 games in his first two seasons with the Bears making two starts last season.
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The Bears were facing a numbers crunch on the offensive line ahead of Tuesday’s roster deadline.
With center/guard Ryan Bates still working through a shoulder injury that leaves his availability for Week 1 in question, the team will likely keep Doug Kramer on the 53-man roster as their backup center heading into the regular season. The other offensive linemen certain or very likely to make the roster are Darnell Wright, Teven Jenkins, Braxton Jones, Nate Davis, Coleman Shelton, Kiran Amegadjie and Matt Pryor.
If Carter clears waivers, he is a prime candidate to return to the Bears’ 17-man practice squad.
Saturday
The Bears waived undrafted rookie defensive tackle Keith Randolph Jr., defensive end Khalid Kareem and receiver Freddie Swain and terminated the contract of vested veteran tight end Tommy Sweeney. The team also placed three players — receiver Nsimba Webster, defensive back Douglas Coleman III and running back Ian Wheeler — on injured reserve.
All three IR moves are season-ending. Wheeler, an undrafted rookie out of Howard, suffered a torn ACL in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs. Coleman, meanwhile, suffered a neck injury in that game and left the field on a stretcher. After being evaluated at a hospital, he was cleared Friday to fly back to Chicago.
The Bears will have to submit their initial 53-man roster Tuesday but will have the opportunity to bring 17 players back to their practice squad if they clear waivers.
