The Chicago Bears are already churning the bottom of their roster looking for all the help they can. Initially, they signed 16 undrafted free agents following the NFL draft last month, they’ve now already cut five of them. This comes on the heels of the team’s rookie minicamps where they hosted nearly two dozen rookie tryouts. It appears several of them made strong impressions as the GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus have opted to sign six of them.
News leaked out that Ball State linebacker Christian Albright, North Arizona defensive end Carson Taylor, and Western Michigan safety A.J. Thomas all made the roster with their work last weekend. Now three more names will be joining them in Charlotte safety Jon Alexander, Ohio running back De’Montre Tuggle, and TCU long snapper Antonio Ortiz. To make room for them, the team bid farewell to the following names.
- OLB Ledarius Mack
- RB Master Teague
- WR Landon Lenoir
- WR Savon Scarver
- LB Jaylan Alexander
- S Amari Carter
As always, the NFL can be a cruel business.
The young brother to Khalil Mack survived as a practice squad guy for two years but never saw the field during that time. Teague and Scarver were rendered irrelevant by what the Chicago Bears did in the draft with picks like Velus Jones and Trestan Ebner. It also seems as if Albright and Thomas made better impressions at linebacker and safety than either Alexander or Carter managed to.
Tuggle showed promising versatility during his college run with 34 catches in the passing game and two touchdowns on kick return duties. Alexander is a giant safety at 6’3, 210 lbs with a good ability to play down the box while also showcasing skills in coverage. He could be similar to Thomas in that the Bears see him as a hybrid safety/linebacker. As for Ortiz, he was runner-up for long snapper of the year last season. One must remember Patrick Scales is 34-years old.
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