Bears Finalize Initial 53-Man Roster After Final Wave of Cuts
Less than 24 hours after wrapping up the preseason with a 24-15 victory over the Tennessee Titans, Ryan Poles, Ben Johnson and the rest of the Bears’ brass had to get straight to business. With the NFL’s 5 p.m. CT deadline arriving Sunday, Chicago officially trimmed its roster down to the league-mandated 53 players.
The final wave of moves featured plenty of recognizable names, but very few genuine surprises. Salvon Ahmed, Stephen Carlson, Marcus Davenport, Wesley French, James Lynch, Scotty Miller, Jon Rhattigan, Jack Sanborn, Beanie Bishop, Ruben Hyppolite II, Dontae Manning, Jedrick Wills, Maurice Alexander, Kiran Amegadjie, Caden Barnett, Kaden Davis, Antonio Grier, Kyle Hergel, Qadir Ismail, Anthony Johnson, Omari Kelly, Jaren Kump, Jeremiah Martin, Wayne Matthews III, Miller Moss, Mason Murphy, Deantre Prince, JP Richardson, Marlen Sewell, Terell Smith and Willian Wright were all among those who didn’t survive the final numbers crunch.
Most of those moves are simply the reality of cutdown day. Some could eventually return on the practice squad, others will look for opportunities elsewhere, and a handful were always fighting an uphill battle to crack a roster that looks considerably deeper than it did when the offseason began.
A Few Mild Surprises
While most of Sunday’s moves weren’t necessarily shocking, Salvon Ahmed, Maurice Alexander and Terell Smith are three names that stand out a little more than the rest.
Ahmed made a legitimate push for a roster spot throughout camp and the preseason, showing enough versatility out of the backfield to make the competition interesting. What makes his release even more surprising is the Bears electing to give Roschon Johnson yet another opportunity at RB3. Johnson has struggled to firmly establish himself through his first few seasons in Chicago, and after Ahmed’s strong push this summer, I thought there was a legitimate chance the Bears would finally go in another direction. Instead, Johnson survives the final cut and will get another opportunity to prove he belongs in the backfield rotation.
Maurice Alexander, meanwhile, had a legitimate avenue toward the final 53 because of his explosiveness and ability in the return game. Ultimately, he couldn’t do enough to survive the numbers game. Guess we can thank Zavion Thomas for that.
Terell Smith might be the biggest surprise of the three. The former fifth-round pick has shown flashes during his time in Chicago and brought experience to a secondary that has dealt with its share of injuries. With his combination of size, athleticism and previous starting experience, Smith seemed like a pretty safe bet to stick around as depth on the outside.
Instead, the Bears decided to move forward without him, which speaks to how the coaching staff ultimately viewed the competition and the depth they believe they have elsewhere in the secondary.
Still, if we’re picking a few names from this list that made me raise an eyebrow when I saw them, Ahmed, Alexander and Smith are probably the three.
But even those moves take a backseat to the most interesting development from Sunday’s cuts.
From Fighting for LT1 to Off the Roster
Perhaps the most interesting development is that Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills are both gone—not necessarily because either cut is stunning individually, but because of where both players stood just a few weeks ago.
With Ozzy Trapilo being on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP) after suffering a significant injury to his knee in January, Amegadjie and Wills spent much of the offseason in stiff competition for the Bears’ starting left tackle position. There was a legitimate possibility that one of the two would be protecting Caleb Williams’ blindside when Chicago opened the regular season.
Then Trapilo apparently decided recovery timelines were merely suggestions.
The second-year tackle made a ridiculously quick, albeit not complete, recovery, returning to practice far earlier than anticipated and completely changing the complexion of the competition.
Once Trapilo returned and proved healthy enough to be activated from the PUP list, the math changed quickly. Instead of choosing between Amegadjie and Wills to potentially start at left tackle, the Bears suddenly had the luxury of viewing both as expendable depth.
And now?
Neither one is on the initial 53.
It’s a pretty wild conclusion to what was considered one of Chicago’s most important position battles entering camp, and an even stronger indication of just how confident the Bears are in Trapilo’s eventual return to protect No. 18’s blindside moving forward.
Considering where Trapilo was physically in January, his recovery might quietly be one of the biggest developments of the Bears’ entire offseason.
Four Cuts Come With an Asterisk
There is also an important distinction for four players included in Sunday’s transactions.
Beanie Bishop, Ruben Hyppolite II, Dontae Manning and Jedrick Wills were waived/released with injury designations.
That makes their situations different from a standard release. If they clear waivers, the designation allows for them to revert to the Bears’ injured reserve list rather than simply hitting the open market with the rest of the cuts.
So while their names appear on the cut list, their time with the organization isn’t necessarily finished.
53…For Now
The important word here is INITIAL.
Because reaching 53 doesn’t mean Ryan Poles is done building this roster.
Hundreds of players became available across the NFL this weekend, giving Chicago an opportunity to work the waiver wire and potentially upgrade the bottom of the roster. The Bears can also begin putting together their practice squad once eligible players clear waivers, meaning several of Sunday’s cuts could find themselves back at Halas Hall pretty quickly.
And considering Poles was already working the phones and making moves leading into the deadline, there’s no guarantee the 53 players standing today will be the exact same 53 when preparations for Week 1 begin.
But for now, after an entire offseason of roster construction, training camp battles and preseason auditions, Ben Johnson has his initial 53-man roster.
Well…
At least until Ryan Poles’ phone rings again. 😂
— The312ReportBy Chicago. For Chicago. 🐻⬇️