Bears To Shut Down Quintin Demps

Although the Bears designated safety Quintin Demps to return from injured reserve three weeks ago, the club will instead shut down the veteran defensive back for the remainder of the season, reports Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).

Demps suffered a broken arm during the Bears’ Week 3 victory over the Steelers, and was subsequently placed on IR. While the prevailing feeling at the time was that Demps would be a lock to be activated later in the year, he’s now dealing with nerve issues in his arm, per Biggs. Given that the 4-10 Bears aren’t fighting for a postseason berth, the club has evidently decided there’s no reason to further risk Demps’ health.

Demps, 32, inked a three-year, $13.5MM deal that included $4.5MM in the spring after spending the past two seasons with the Texans. Through an admittedly small sample of only two-plus games, Pro Football Focus had ranked Demps as just the 70th-best safety among 82 qualifiers. Given his age and his 2018 cap charge of $4.3MM, Demps could theoretically be a candidate for release this offseason, especially if Chicago attempts to get younger on defense.

Although Demps was designated to return from IR, he was never officially activated to the Bears’ 53-man roster. Therefore, Chicago will not be forced to make a corresponding transaction, as Demps will simply stay on injured reserve.