HEADLINES

Bobby Haskins

Bears Set Initial Roster, Waive DE Trevis Gipson

August 29th, 2023 at 4:24pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bears have been slowly trimming down their squad over the past few days, and the front office has now officially landed on their initial roster. The Bears announced the following moves, some of which were previously reported:

Placed on IR:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

The moves actually reduce Chicago’s roster to 52 players, so additions are certainly coming.

Trevis Gipson is a bit of a surprise cut after the former fifth-round pick got into 33 games (19 starts) for the Bears over the past two years. The defensive lineman showed some pass-rushing prowess during his rookie season, compiling seven sacks, seven tackles for loss, and seven QB hits. His numbers took a bit of a step back in 2022, with the Tulsa product finishing with only three sacks. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter), the Bears worked on a trade for Gipson and had “teams involved” in the bidding but couldn’t come to terms before today’s roster deadline.

Trestan Ebner was another Bears draft pick that got into 17 games last season. The 2022 sixth-round pick ended up getting 26 touches on offense, collecting 62 yards from scrimmage while coughing up two fumbles. Ebner also returned 10 kickoffs for Chicago last season. The running back has been in concussion protocol since the early parts of the preseason, and there’s a chance he reverts to the Bears’ injured reserve if he goes unclaimed.

Bears Sign 14 UDFAs

May 4th, 2023 at 8:32pm CST by Ben Levine

After adding 10 rookies via the draft, the Bears have added another 14 first-year players via free agency. The Bears announced that they have signed 14 undrafted free agents:

Tyson Bagent had a prolific career at Shepherd, tossing 159 touchdowns in 53 games. The 6-foot-3 prospect has the size of a typical NFL quarterback, but his questionable decision-making and arm strength (coupled with his Division II status) led to him going undrafted. Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy got a closeup view of Bagent during the Senior Bowl.

Andre Szmyt left Syracuse as the school’s all-time leader in scoring. He converted 81 percent of his field goal attempts in college and 91 percent of his kicks from within 40 yards. Cairo Santos has connected on 89.7 percent of his FGAs over the past three seasons with the Bears, but the rookie should provide the veteran with a bit of competition in training camp.

Jalen Harris is the son of former Bears draft pick Sean Harris. The defensive lineman compiled 171 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks in 56 games at Arizona before going undrafted last weekend. The rookie can find a role for himself as an edge on the Bears, with DeMarcus Walker, Rasheem Green, Trevis Gipson, and Dominique Robinson providing competition for the roster spots.