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Ben Braunecker

Bears Release TE Ben Braunecker

July 23rd, 2020 at 5:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Ben Braunecker‘s tenure with the Bears has come to an end. The team announced today that they’ve released the veteran tight end.

The Harvard product joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and he proceeded to spend four years with the organization. The 26-year-old has appeared in 48 total games with eight starts (including postseason), hauling in 15 receptions for 157 receiving yards. The six-foot-three tight end finally hauled in his first career touchdown pass during the Bears’ Week 9 win over the Lions this past season.

Braunecker was also a stalwart on special teams for Chicago, compiling 16 career tackles in 780 career special teams snaps.

The veteran was limited to only 11 games last season. He landed on the injured reserve in mid-December after sustaining a concussion.

The Bears have revamped their tight end depth chart this offseason. The team signed Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris, and they added rookie Cole Kmet in the second round of the draft. The organization is also rostering holdovers Adam Shaheen, J.P. Holtz, Jesper Horsted, and Eric Saubert, as well as former USC basketball player Darion Clark.

Bears Activate DL Akiem Hicks

December 14th, 2019 at 1:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bears will bring back one of their top players for Week 15’s pivotal game against the Packers. Akiem Hicks is officially back on Chicago’s 53-man roster after spending eight weeks on IR.

Hicks has not played since the Bears’ Week 5 game, but the team did not place the Pro Bowl defensive end on IR until before its Week 7 contest. To make room on their 53-man roster, the Bears placed tight end Ben Braunecker on IR. Braunecker’s season will end because of a concussion.

Despite the Bears sitting at 4-6 in a high-caliber NFC playoff race in mid-November, Matt Nagy refused to shut down Hicks. The fourth-year Bear returned to practice less than two weeks ago and is set to return to his starting role — for a 7-6 Bears team — Sunday.

A former Saints third-round pick who’s emerged as one of the game’s top interior defensive linemen, Hicks was a key reason for the Bears’ defensive ascent last season. He registered at least seven sacks in each of the past three seasons, combining for 36 tackles for loss in that span as well. The 30-year-old lineman will obviously not run that streak to four but will stand to help the Bears in what is essentially a must-win game in Green Bay.

Contract Details: Brown, Boyle, Harrison

March 11th, 2019 at 3:44pm CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed contracts from around the NFL:

  • Trent Brown , T (Raiders): Four years, $66MM, $36.75MM guaranteed. As Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets, Brown will earn $15MM in 2019 but $21.5MM in 2020, when the Raiders move to Las Vegas (there’s no income tax in Nevada). That’s a smart move on Brown’s part, obviously. But as Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal observes (via Twitter), there is no guaranteed money left on the deal after 2020, so the Raiders can cut bait with no dead money ramifications at the end of the 2020 season. Essentially, then, it is a two-year, $36.75MM pact.
  • Nick Boyle, TE (Ravens): Three years, $18MM. $10MM fully guaranteed ($7MM signing bonus, $1MM guaranteed salary in 2019, $2MM of $4.5MM guaranteed in 2020). Twitter link via NFL Insider Adam Caplan.
  • Jonotthan Harrison, OL (Jets): Re-signed on March 9. Two years, maximum of $6MM. Twitter link via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
  • Angelo Blackson, DE (Texans): Three years, $12MM. $3.5MM guaranteed. Salaries of $2MM (guaranteed), $3.5MM, and $3.5MM. $1.5MM 2019 roster bonus. $31,250 per game 46-man roster bonus. Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
  • Ben Braunecker, TE (Bears): Two-year deal. Total value of $2.7MM. $300K signing bonus. $6,250 per game 46-man roster bonus. Twitter links via Wilson.

Bears Re-Sign Ben Braunecker

March 11th, 2019 at 9:23am CST by Zachary Links

The Bears and tight end Ben Braunecker agreed to a two-year deal, according to a source who spoke with Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Bears did not tender Braunecker as a restricted free agent, but found a way to retain him nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the Bears carved out some additional cap space in advance of free agency, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Defensive tackle Eddie Goldman had a $3MM roster bonus coming to him, but the Bears have converted it into a signing bonus, giving them an extra $2.25MM in breathing room. Heading into Monday, the Bears had less than $20MM in cap room, putting them in the bottom third of the NFL. The Goldman adjustment won’t put them in the same league as cash-flush teams like the Jets, Colts, and Browns, but it will give them some extra flexibility.

Meanwhile, the Bears are reportedly discussing trades for Jordan Howard, which could give them some additional draft capital to work with.

Bears Place TE Zach Miller On IR

November 7th, 2017 at 3:36pm CST by Zachary Links

As expected, the Bears are placing tight end Zach Miller on injured reserve. This was the only possible outcome after he had major surgery on his dislocated knee. To take his place on the roster, fellow tight end Ben Braunecker has promoted from the practice squad. Taking Braunecker’s place on the taxi squad will be tight end Colin Thompson. "<strong

Initially, there was concern that Miller could lose his leg in surgery. However, the Bears announced last week that Miller’s operation was “successful,” so he is hopefully out of the woods in that regard. In a statement released on Twitter on Tuesday, Miller said that he has been “down before” but he “will do whatever it takes to get back up.”

In 2016, Miller caught a career-high 47 passes and 486 yards with four touchdowns. At the time of his injury, he was on pace for similar numbers with 20 receptions for 236 yards and two scores.

The Bears are expected to move forward with Dion Sims and second-round pick Adam Shaheen as their top TEs with Daniel Brown in support. They’ll try to improve on their 3-5 record on Sunday when they face the rival Packers in Chicago.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/5/17

September 5th, 2017 at 8:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Signed: CB Tony McRae, C Matt Skura

Buffalo Bills

  • Signed: LB Eric Lee
  • Released: S B.T. Sanders, CB Marcus Sayles

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: FB Alex Armah

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

  • Signed: LB LaTroy Lewis

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Signed: CB Raysean Pringle

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Signed: TE Johnny Mundt, CB Kevin Peterson
  • Released: OL Michael Dunn, DL Louis Trinca-Pasat

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: CB Kenneth Durden

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North

September 3rd, 2017 at 4:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Bears Cut C.J. Wilson, Sign Ben Braunecker

October 1st, 2016 at 3:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Since his four-year stay in Green Bay — one that included a rookie-year Super Bowl ring — C.J. Wilson has not had much luck sticking with teams. This pattern persisted on the eve of the Bears’ Week 4 contest, when they cut Wilson and promoted rookie tight end Ben Braunecker from their practice squad, Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (on Twitter).

No tight ends reside on Chicago’s injury report in advance of Sunday’s Bears-Lions game, but prior to Braunecker’s promotion, the team only had two on its roster — Zach Miller and Logan Paulsen. The UDFA’s been with the team since signing after the draft.

Wilson, however, spent the offseason with multiple teams, the Bears and Saints after a lengthy stay in free agency. This came after he’d suited up for the Raiders and Lions the past two seasons. The Packers did not opt to bring the defensive end back after his rookie contract expired in 2014.

The 29-year-old defender will head to waivers after bypassing that step due to the Saints cutting him before the season. The Raiders waived Wilson in November, and after he caught on with the Lions, Detroit released him in February.

Wilson has not played in a game this season after suiting up for 12 last year. He has 6.5 career sacks in 78 career games (19 starts).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North

September 4th, 2016 at 6:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Bears’ Roster At 53

September 3rd, 2016 at 6:50pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bears have officially reduced their roster to 53 players, and in doing so, placed LB Pernell McPhee and WR Marquess Wilson on PUP. As such, each player will be forced to miss at leas the first six games of the season.

Cut:

Waived/Injured:

PUP:

  • LB Pernell McPhee
  • WR Marquess Wilson

Braverman was the club’s seventh-round pick this year after posting a whopping 109 receptions for Western Michigan in 2015.

Moeaki has bounced around a bit since leaving the Chiefs in 2012. The 29-year-old played in 11 games for the Falcons last season, but he only hauled in three catches for 58 yards. Following a 2012 campaign where he caught 33 passes for 453 yards and a score, Moeaki has only compiled 11 catches for 192 yards over the past three seasons.

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