11:55am: Daly will indeed be the Bears’ pick. In completing the Scales IR transaction, Chicago will add the former Detroit deep snapper, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.
10:17am: Going into his 10th season as the Bears’ long snapper, Patrick Scales will not begin the year on time. The team will soon place its deep snapper on IR, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs.
Scales is set to undergo back surgery, per Biggs, who adds the team is hoping for a recovery timetable of roughly six weeks. Dealing with a disk issue, the 36-year-old specialist has been out since going down in the Hall of Fame Game.
The Bears waived the other long snapper on their roster — Cameron Lyons — on Tuesday, but they will certainly need someone here soon. Scott Daly, the Lions’ snapper for the previous three seasons, is on the team’s radar, Biggs adds. Detroit cut Daly, 30, to go with rookie UDFA Hogan Hatten on Tuesday.
While Chicago could have placed Scales on IR before setting its 53-man roster, the team already allocated those spots. Swing tackle Larry Borom and rotational rusher Jacob Martin received IR-return designations Tuesday; the NFL’s tweak to the IR rule allows for up to two such designations.
Scales’ niche position and the nature of his injury also may have made the Bears hesitant about burning one of their IR-return slots so early. The Bears are down to six IR-return slots already, but the upcoming Scales move will not further subtract from that total just yet. By waiting until today to make the IR transition, the Bears will not lose an activation until they actually move Scales back onto the active roster.
Acquired during the 2015 season, Scales has played 122 Bears games. He also has a notable injury history — for a long snapper, at least. The veteran role player missed the 2017 with a torn ACL. The Bears still have Scales in their plans, having re-signed him on a one-year deal this offseason. But he will need another stint off the roster before attempting to suit up again.
I’ve always been curious at to what stats are used to determine if a LS is worthy of induction into the HOF.