Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles whittled his roster to 53 players ahead of the NFL’s 3 p.m. Tuesday deadline.
The Bears will assemble a 16-man practice squad Wednesday and also hold an exemption for a 17th spot should they choose to use it for offensive lineman Roy Mbaeteka, who is part of the league’s International Player Pathway program. The Bears will host the Green Bay Packers in their season opener Sept. 10 at Soldier Field, with plenty of additional roster movement expected over the next week.
Here is how the initial 53-man roster sets up at each position.
Quarterbacks (2)
Made the team: Justin Fields, Tyson Bagent
Most notable cut: P.J. Walker
Quick take: The Bears seem interested in having a veteran presence in the room for Fields and Bagent and might look to stash Nathan Peterman on the practice squad. One of the biggest stories of the preseason was the comfort and confidence Bagent showed, coupled with Walker’s persistent struggles. While hoping for a major breakthrough from Fields this season, the Bears can simultaneously develop Bagent with the belief they may have found a diamond in the rough.
Running backs (5)
Made the team: Khalil Herbert, D’Onta Foreman, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Khari Blasingame
More Top Picks Best Light Blocking Glasses For Migraines
Most notable cut: Trestan Ebner
Quick take: The Bears have promised a backfield by committee and will lean on the versatility of this group. It will be interesting to monitor Johnson’s potential emergence with the entire building high on his skill set, work ethic and leadership potential.
Wide receivers (6)
Made the team: DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool, Velus Jones Jr., Tyler Scott, Equanimeous St. Brown
Most notable cut: Daurice Fountain
Quick take: Moore has been everything advertised and more since his arrival via trade in March. His two preseason catches went for 102 yards, including 90 yards after the catch. Mooney continues to make an impressive return from an ankle injury that ended his season in November. Claypool is the biggest mystery with no one quite sure what to expect in terms of durability and consistent production.
Tight ends (3)
Made the team: Cole Kmet, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis
Most notable cut: Stephen Carlson
Quick take: Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy won’t lose much sleep worrying about this group. Kmet, Tonyan and Lewis are established veterans with track records for being on top of details. The Bears will lean on their tight ends pretty heavily, both to establish a bruising running game and to contribute as weapons in the passing game. There are strong internal hopes this group can help unlock Fields’ progress in the play-action game.
Offensive linemen (10)
Made the team: Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair, Nate Davis, Darnell Wright, Dan Feeney, Ja’Tyre Carter, Larry Borom, Lucas Patrick, Doug Kramer
Most notable cut: Alex Leatherwood
Quick take: The Bears entered training camp feeling great about their starting line starters and looking to establish chemistry and continuity. They head into the regular season sorting through injury issues and hoping to get resettled quickly. It’s hard to know when Jenkins will be back after suffering a right leg injury two weeks ago. He could be a candidate for short-term injured reserve.
Defensive ends (5)
Made the team: DeMarcus Walker, Yannick Ngakoue, Dominique Robinson, Terrell Lewis, Rasheem Green
Most notable cut: Trevis Gipson
Quick take: A lot will be expected from this quintet after the Bears finished 2022 with a league-low 20 sacks, including only 10 1/2 from their defensive ends. Ngakoue’s arrival is expected to be a major catalyst to the pass rush. Walker has obvious passion and a booming voice he hasn’t been afraid to use. But he barely practiced in August and needs to show some game-day bite to go with his bark.
Defensive tackles (4)
Made the team: Justin Jones, Andrew Billings, Zacch Pickens, Gervon Dexter
Most notable cut: Travis Bell
Quick take: So much has been made of the Bears’ ineffectiveness rushing the passer last season. They also finished 31st in run defense, allowing 157.3 yards per game. Jones is the lone returnee in this group. Coaches have sung Billings’ praises as a tough-to-move tone-setter up front. Billings has paid the praise forward to Dexter and Pickens, a pair of Day 2 draft picks with immense potential. “They’re the future of this team,” Billings said Tuesday. “Just having that cohesiveness they’re developing right now is huge. And they both seem to be developing it really quick.”
Linebackers (5)
Made the team: Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Jack Sanborn, Noah Sewell, Dylan Cole
Most notable cut: Micah Baskerville
Quick take: The Bears invested heavily during the spring in upgrading the linebacking corps with new starters Edmunds and Edwards. It will be interesting to see what the return looks like at season’s end. Sewell is an instinctive rookie with plenty of promise. But he suffered a groin injury in the final preseason game and could be out a while.
Cornerbacks (6)
Made the team: Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell, Jaylon Jones
Most notable cut: Michael Ojemudia
Quick take: This appears to be one of the strongest positions on the roster with Johnson entering the final year of his rookie deal, Gordon making steps forward in his second season and Stevenson already turning heads with his fearlessness and playmaking ability. Coach Matt Eberflus is hoping for significant takeaway production from this group and has reason to believe that will come.
Safeties (4)
Made the team: Eddie Jackson, Jaquan Brisker, Elijah Hicks, A.J. Thomas
Most notable cut: Kendall Williamson
Quick take: Depth looks like it could be an issue. Jackson and Brisker have missed significant time this month with injuries. And while both figure to be ready to start against the Packers in Week 1, what happens if they go down again and the safety depth is tested?
Specialists (3)
More Top Picks Best Reading Guides For Kids
Made the team: Cairo Santos, Trenton Gill, Patrick Scales
Most notable cut: None
Quick take: Business as usual for the three amigos. Gill had a productive rookie season, averaging 46 yards per punt. Santos struggled with extra points, missing 5 of 32 attempts last season. But over the last three seasons with the Bears, he has made 90.6% of his field goals.
Our take
Brad Biggs
Tuesday’s moves provided a clear view of what the Bears will look like this season, with a handful of transactions likely in store in the days ahead as they hold the No. 1 position in the waiver process.
In the big picture, as general manager Ryan Poles prepares for his second season, it’s instructive to look at progress from Week 1 a year ago to now. The Bears project to have five new starters on offense in 11 personnel against the Packers: wide receivers DJ Moore and Chase Claypool, center Lucas Patrick, right tackle Darnell Wright and running back Khalil Herbert. In nickel personnel, they project to have six new starters on defense: ends Yannick Ngakoue and DeMarcus Walker, tackle Andrew Billings (or rookies Zacch Pickens or Gervon Dexter), linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
That’s 11 new starters — nine of them acquired since the start of the 2022 season and eight picked up this offseason. There’s no such thing as a final roster, and it will remain a work in progress. Only 11 players remain with the organization who were under contract before Poles arrived.
A few positions are worth watching in the coming days:
Quarterback. Do the Bears seek an experienced backup option or opt to re-sign Nathan Peterman to the practice squad?
Offensive line. Now that the Dan Feeney trade is official, the Bears are carrying 10 linemen. Generally teams roll with nine. Is a move coming or will they keep 10 while Teven Jenkins is injured?
Linebacker. The Bears looked at a handful of options for a potential sixth linebacker but kept only five. With Noah Sewell injured in the preseason finale and Dylan Cole out for most of training camp, could an addition be in the works?
Punt returner. Will the Bears go with Velus Jones or look at potential options now seeking work?
Keep an open mind. With the No. 1 spot in the waiver order, anything could happen.
Colleen Kane
The two most surprising cuts came Sunday, when the Bears parted with backup quarterback P.J. Walker and offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood. The moves showed that Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus can be decisive when determining a move isn’t working out. And they showed Poles is willing to admit his mistakes and eat guaranteed money if necessary.
After the release of Nathan Peterman, Eberflus noted they will look at bringing in more experience in the quarterbacks room with third-year player Justin Fields and undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent, and that makes sense.
Waiving fourth-year defensive end Trevis Gipson wasn’t a surprise because of how the Bears divvied up training camp reps among the six ends competing for roster spots — and because of the ESPN report Saturday that the Bears had given him permission to seek a trade. The Bears brought in more depth at the position, and Gipson was pushed out.
But it’s one of the few moves I’m not entirely sure about. Two years ago, as a second-year outside linebacker in the previous coaching staff’s defense, Gipson had seven sacks and five forced fumbles, with Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn cheering him on. It’s a shame that promise didn’t turn into more in Chicago.
How the depth would shake out in the wide receivers room was a question going into camp. But Dante Pettis going on injured reserve made the decision more clear-cut, though Daurice Fountain, who was cut, did make some nice preseason plays.
There could be more moves on the horizon, but it’s notable that safety A.J. Thomas and center Doug Kramer, both on the roster bubble, earned spots.
Dan Wiederer
This is your annual reminder that the initial 53-man roster is always less important than the 53-man roster the Bears will take into the first practice of Week 1 next week. There will be a handful of moves in the coming days — from waiver claims to injured reserve moves — that will reshape things.
But at first blush, comparing this season’s initial roster with last season’s, it seems obvious the Bears have upgraded their talent level, particularly in the first column of the depth chart. Now it becomes a matter of establishing more quality depth to help through a long season.
Already, the Bears are reshuffling on the offensive line. They also had to spend the last two weeks without either starting safety practicing or playing in preseason games. So what happens during the season if that depth gets tested?
That’s one of many big-picture questions looming. Two others: How much better will the Bears be at rushing the passer and stopping the run, two areas in which they were deficient in 2022, to put it nicely? Improvement seems inevitable. But the timetable for the team’s re-emergence will hinge on how much improvement is made.
Ryan Poles understands the roster-building process and the patience needed to assemble a championship team. The Bears aren’t there yet. But they are making progress.