Chicago Bears roster cuts: All of the moves from 80 to 53 players, including releasing Desmond Trufant and putting Riley Ridley and Dazz Newsome on waivers
The Chicago Bears had to trim their roster to 53 players before 3 p.m. Tuesday. Here are the moves as they assemble their roster and practice squad for the regular season.
The Chicago Bears’ first 53-man roster is set. Here’s the position-by-position breakdown.
Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news
Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning
Tuesday
The Bears released cornerback Desmond Trufant.
The Bears signed Trufant, an eight-year NFL veteran, to a one-year deal in March to compete for a starting cornerback job. But he suffered a groin injury early in camp and then missed the last couple of weeks of practice after the death of his father.
Without Trufant, the Bears have Kindle Vildor as the front-runner to fill the outside cornerback spot that opened when they released Kyle Fuller in March — unless they look at other teams’ cuts for more options.
Wide receiver Riley Ridley was placed on waivers.
The Bears drafted Ridley in the fourth round out of Georgia in 2019, but he didn’t work his way into the game plan often over his two seasons. He played in 10 games, totaling 10 catches on 11 targets for 108 yards.
The Bears signed receivers Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd and drafted Dazz Newsome this offseason, signaling Ridley’s roster spot was in danger.
The Bears waived rookie cornerback Thomas Graham Jr.
The Bears drafted Graham in the sixth round out of Oregon with the hopes he could compete at their open nickel spot. The team could look to bring him back on the practice squad for further development.
The Bears placed wide receiver Dazz Newsome on waivers.
Newsome was a sixth-round pick out of North Carolina this year. He broke his collarbone in OTAs and got off to a slow start in training camp while coming back from the injury. He had two catches for 26 yards in preseason games and also was a punt-return candidate. He is a practice-squad candidate.
The Bears put running back/punt returner Tarik Cohen on the physically unable to perform list for the regular season.
Cohen is recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered last September. His status on the PUP list means he is required by NFL rules to miss the first six games. A timeline for his return beyond that is unclear.
The Bears waived running backs Ryan Nall and Artavis Pierce.
Nall played in 24 games over the last two seasons with the Bears. He had eight catches for 67 yards and a touchdown in 2020. He also was a major contributor on special teams. He was on the Bears practice squad in 2018.
The Bears signed Pierce as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State in 2020. He played in five games, with six carries for 34 yards and a touchdown.
The Bears signed running back Damien Williams to complement starter David Montgomery this season and also drafted Khalil Herbert in the sixth round. Herbert also returns kickoffs.
The Bears terminated the contracts of defensive backs Artie Burns and Marqui Christian and waived defensive backs Tre Roberson, Dionte Ruffin and Teez Tabor.
These moves leave the Bears with only four cornerbacks on their initial 53-man roster: Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley and Xavier Crawford. Burns and Christian had been competing for starting spots at outside corner and nickel, so it looks like Vildor and Shelley are the front-runners there for now, unless the Bears add more options in the coming days. They could re-sign Christian if they clear a roster spot. Roberson was waived with an injury designation.
The Bears waived outside linebackers James Vaughters and Charles Snowden.
Vaughters played in 17 games over the last two seasons with the Bears, totaling 25 tackles, two tackles for a loss and 1½ sacks. He battled a calf injury midway through training camp and didn’t play in the preseason finale.
Snowden, a rookie out of Virginia, was one of the Bears’ higher-profile undrafted free agent signings. He had six tackles, two tackles for a loss, two sacks and four quarterback hits in the preseason games.
The Bears waived offensive lineman Arlington Hambright.
Hambright was a seventh-round pick out of Colorado last year. He played in nine games with one start for the Bears in 2020.
The Bears placed wide receivers Jon’Vea Johnson and Isaiah Coulter on waivers.
Johnson, a Gary native who played at Toledo, spent his first two NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys on injured reserve and the practice squad.
The Bears signed Coulter late in camp after the Houston Texans cut him. He was a 2020 fifth-round pick out of Rhode Island and played in one game last season.
The Bears waived kicker Brian Johnson.
The Bears already are set at kicker after Cairo Santos signed a contract extension this offseason following a record-setting year in 2020. But Johnson, a rookie out of Virginia Tech, impressed at training camp and in preseason games in making two field goals and three extra points.
The Bears waived defensive lineman LaCale London with an injury designation.
London signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Western Illinois in 2020.
The Bears waived offensive linemen Dieter Eiselen and Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and outside linebacker Sam Kamara.
Eiselen spent the 2020 season on the practice squad after the Bears signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Yale. He played in one game last season.
Wheatley, an undrafted rookie out of Stony Brook, missed some of training camp with an illness.
Kamara was an undrafted free agent out of Stony Brook this year.
Monday
The Bears will place wide receiver Chris Lacy, offensive lineman Adam Redmond, tight end Scooter Harrington and defensive lineman Daniel Archibong on waivers.
All four players were depth pieces during training camp. Archibong, an undrafted rookie out of Temple, had eight tackles, a sack, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit in the preseason. Harrington, an undrafted rookie out of Stanford, had one catch for 8 yards. And Lacy, who spent the first three years of his career with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, had four catches for 33 yards.
The moves leave the Bears roster at 76 players.
Thursday
The Bears cut fourth-year wide receiver Javon Wims.
Wims, a 2018 seventh-round pick out of Georgia, played in 33 games over three seasons with the Bears. He had 28 catches for 266 yards and two touchdowns and also played a bit on special teams.
Wims had a rocky ending to the 2020 season. He was suspended two games in November for punching Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who had ripped Wims’ mouthpiece from him earlier in the game. He also dropped a deep touchdown pass in the Bears playoff game against the Saints.
The Bears added wide receivers Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd in the offseason and drafted Dazz Newsome to improve their depth in the offseason, and Rodney Adams also has played well in the preseason.
Wims missed time earlier in the week with an oblique injury. The Bears added defensive back Dionte Ruffin to take Wims’ roster spot.
