HEADLINES

A.J. Thomas

Bears Reduce Roster To 53 Players

August 30th, 2022 at 6:10pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bears trimmed their roster to the NFL’s mandatory 53-man limit today:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Michael Schofield III is an experienced starter with more than 100 NFL games under his belt, but it was immediately clear that he was competing for a roster spot when he inked a deal worth only $1.12MM. He ultimately lost out on a starting gig in Chicago to Teven Jenkins, who was mentioned as a trade candidate only yesterday.

Sam Kamara got into eight games with Chicago in 2021 while mostly appearing on special teams. Nsimba Webster got into six games with the Bears last year, returning four punts for 13 yards. Both of these young players are candidates to return to Chicago’s practice squad to start the 2022 campaign.

Nathan Peterman is also expected to land back on the Bears’ practice squad, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). After tossing three touchdowns vs. 12 interceptions in two seasons with Buffalo, Peterman spent the past three years with the Raiders, getting into only a pair of games. Justin Fields and Trevor Siemian are the only two QBs on the Bears active roster, so Peterman will see a promotion if either of those two are sidelined.

Bears Cut Recently Signed UDFA, Sign New UDFA

May 8th, 2022 at 8:52pm CST by Ely Allen

Chicago recently announced their undrafted rookie free agent class and held their rookie minicamp. One of the recently signed undrafted rookies, former Utah State return specialist Savon Scarver, has been cut, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network.

Scarver was a consensus All-American return man. In five years with the Aggies, Scarver had seven kickoff return touchdowns, making sure to return at least one a year, even in the team’s COVID-shortened, four-game 2020 season. He added 757 yards receiving and 5 receiving touchdowns to his stat sheet, but he was mainly seen as a special teamer at the next level.

Along with their 16 announced UDFAs, the Bears invited 36 other undrafted players for rookie tryouts at minicamp. Among those 36, was Western Michigan defensive back A.J. Thomas. Thomas played safety for most of his career with the Broncos, but switched to linebacker for his final season.

It appears that he was asked to participate in Chicago as a defensive back. Regardless, at the conclusion of rookie minicamp, the Bears agreed to sign him as an undrafted free agent, according to Wilson.