HEADLINES

Josh Blackwell

Bears Activate WR Equanimeous St. Brown, CB Josh Blackwell From IR

November 9th, 2023 at 2:51pm CST by Adam La Rose

NOVEMBER 9: Chicago will be the first team this season to push up against the injury activation limit. The Bears are activating St. Brown and Blackwell from IR, though Herbert will not be returned to the 53-man roster just yet. Nevertheless, the team will use its sixth and seventh activations Wednesday, leaving one remaining. That is a bit unusual in Week 10, though we are fairly early into this injury format.

Herbert seemingly is the favorite for that final IR-return activation. Once that happens, any Bear who lands on IR will see his season end. Blackwell and St. Brown join Teven Jenkins, Braxton Jones, Doug Kramer, Khalid Kareem and Kyler Gordon as Chicago’s IR activations thus far.

NOVEMBER 6: The Bears’ backfield could be healthier in the near future. The team announced on Monday that running back Khalil Herbert has been designated for return from injured reserve.

The news means Herbert’s 21-day practice window has been opened. He must be activated within that span to avoid reverting to season-ending IR. The same is true for cornerback Josh Blackwell and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who were also designated for return on Monday.

Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain in October, one which was expected to keep him sidelined for an extended period. As a result, his IR stint came as little surprise. His activation will end his absence while giving the Bears another option at the RB spot. The 25-year-old has logged a career-high 10.2 carries per game in 2023, confirming expectations he would see an uptick in usage with David Montgomery no longer in the picture. Herbert has parlayed that into 272 yards, while adding one touchdown and 83 yards in the passing game.

Chicago has dealt with a number of injuries in the backfield recently, but D’Onta Foreman has emerged as the team’s lead back. The free agent addition has logged at least 15 carries in three of the past four games, including a season-high 20 on Sunday. Foreman has averaged 4.4 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns during the start of his tenure in the Windy City, and it will be interesting to see how his workload is affected once Herbert returns.

Blackwell has made 18 appearances with the Bears, and has played primarily on special teams. St. Brown, by contrast, has seen a notable workload on offense (57% snap share last season, 49% in 2023) since arriving in Chicago after three years in Green Bay. His return will be welcomed on a passing attack which has struggled to find consistent success with either Justin Fields or Tyson Bagent under center.

However, the Bears entered today with only three of their eight IR activations remaining. In other words, bringing back Herbert, Blackmon and St. Brown will leave the team without the ability to put any other player on IR which they believe will be able to return later in the campaign. Still, Chicago will have reinforcements on both sides of the ball once the trio is back on the field.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/29/23

September 29th, 2023 at 6:57pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are this Friday’s minor NFL transactions:

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

The Bears will now need a backup plan for their backup plan. Blackwell became the primary nickel cornerback in Chicago after the team placed Kyler Gordon on injured reserve. The loss of Blackwell will likely mean more responsibility for veteran defensive back Greg Stroman.

Harper was recently waived by Dallas in hopes that he would be able to sign with the Cowboys’ practice squad after clearing waivers, according to Todd Archer of ESPN. Unfortunately, they’ll lose control of his contract completely as Cincinnati exercised its waiver claim.

Rivers is being released with much the same intention as Harper, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Houston shouldn’t encounter as many hurdles as the Cowboys, though, since Rivers is a vested veteran and doesn’t need to hit the waiver wire before signing a new contract.

Bears Place CB Kyler Gordon On IR

September 14th, 2023 at 11:22am CST by Sam Robinson

The hand injury Kyler Gordon suffered in Week 1 will sideline him for an extended period. The Bears feared Gordon suffered a broken hand in the Bears’ opener, per the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, and have since placed him on IR.

Gordon must miss at least four games. He underwent surgery this week, with The Athletic’s Adam Jahns confirming that the second-year corner sustained a broken hand. That said, Jahns adds Gordon is expected back when first eligible (Week 6).

Chicago drafted Gordon in the 2022 second round and have used him as a starter since doing so. Gordon shifted into a full-time slot role this offseason, accommodating the team’s latest second-round corner investment (Tyrique Stevenson). Gordon suffered the injury on a blitz in Chicago’s loss to Green Bay on Sunday.

Rolling out a Gordon-Stevenson-Jaylon Johnson trio comprised of Round 2 picks, the Bears have devoted notable draft capital to this spot. They will not have a chance to see the trio in action together again until mid-October. Players placed on IR in-season must miss at least four contests. Clubs can activate up to eight players from the injured list during a season.

The Bears will be set to turn to Josh Blackwell as their primary nickel, per the Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Potash. A 2022 Eagles UDFA-turned-Bears waiver claim, Blackwell played in 16 Bears games last season but logged only 133 defensive snaps. The Bears also promoted Greg Stroman from their practice squad. Stroman is a sixth-year vet who has been with the Bears since April 2022. The former Washington seventh-round pick played in two games for Chicago last year.

Chosen 39th overall out of Washington, Gordon joins both Stevenson and Blackwell in being acquired during the Ryan Poles regime’s run. A Ryan Pace-era draftee, Johnson is going into a contract year. The Bears are looking to rebound from a last-place defensive showing last season. Their 2023 effort did not start well, with the Packers putting up 38 points in a Week 1 rout.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/24/23

April 24th, 2023 at 6:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Minor moves from around the league today:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/10/23

March 10th, 2023 at 8:11pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s tender decisions from around the NFL:

RFAs

Tendered:

Not tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Not tendered:

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/23

March 7th, 2023 at 9:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

While teams have some bigger-picture decisions to make this month, this is also the point on the calendar they need to make calls on restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents. Here is a look at the latest tender decisions from around the NFL:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/23

January 4th, 2023 at 5:27pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

  • Placed on IR: LB De’Jon Harris

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North

August 31st, 2022 at 3:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings moves are noted below.

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

Chicago Bears

Claimed:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Claimed:

Waived:

Released from IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Signed:

Waived: 

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Waived:

Bears Claim OL Alex Leatherwood

August 31st, 2022 at 11:33am CST by Sam Robinson

After a woeful Raiders tenure, Alex Leatherwood will have a second chance via the NFL’s waiver system. The Bears put in a claim for the former first-round pick, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

The Raiders bailed on Leatherwood after one season, marking a shocking freefall for last year’s No. 17 overall pick. The Bears, however, have also run into extensive O-line uncertainty. The rebuilding team will take a chance on the former Alabama prospect. Leatherwood’s signing bonus is the Raiders’ responsibility, leaving considerable dead money on Las Vegas’ cap sheet. But the Bears are now responsible for $5.9MM in Leatherwood salary.

Chicago, which changed up its roster considerably as it transitioned to a new GM-HC pairing this offseason, made five more waiver claims Wednesday. Defensive tackle Armon Watts, defensive back Josh Blackwell, defensive end Kingsley Jonathan, linebacker Sterling Weatherford and tight end Trevon Wesco will be en route to the Windy City as well, Yates tweets. The Bears’ six waiver claims are a league-high total this year.

This marks quite a haul for Chicago, which added former starters from Las Vegas and Minnesota. Watts started nine games for the Vikings last season, replacing the injured Michael Pierce, but the team changed defensive schemes this offseason and made a trade for former Texans second-round defensive tackle Ross Blacklock on Tuesday. That led Watts off the roster. But he will be back in a 4-3 scheme under Matt Eberflus, whose team cleared some D-tackle space by releasing Mario Edwards on Tuesday.

Viewed as a reach in last year’s first round, Leatherwood did not justify his draft slot when deployed at right tackle or right guard for the Raiders last season. The staff that drafted Leatherwood quickly moved him off right tackle, but Pro Football Focus rated him as one of the league’s worst guards. Despite the Raiders facing a few questions on their offensive line and losing Brandon Parker for the season, their new regime cut bait after trying Leatherwood at tackle again in training camp.

The Bears are expected to start fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones at left tackle, and they have 2021 fifth-rounder Larry Borom on the right side. Riley Reiff, who signed with the team shortly before camp, is also in the tackle picture. The team moved 2021 second-rounder Teven Jenkins from tackle to guard late this offseason, and while Jenkins appeared in trade rumors, he is on the roster and may well start the season at the new position. Leatherwood, his early-career struggles notwithstanding, may now also be a factor at that spot.

Eagles Finalize 53-Man Roster

August 30th, 2022 at 10:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is how the Eagles reached the 53-man limit Tuesday:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

The Eagles added two veteran receivers this offseason, with one of them (A.J. Brown) bumping Jalen Reagor down the depth chart. Zach Pascal, who has played for Nick Sirianni previously (in Indianapolis), may also be a factor. But the Eagles, despite their moves at receiver and offseason trade rumors that engulfed Reagor, still have the 2020 first-round pick rostered. The TCU product is also coming off a solid preseason.

Howie Roseman said the Eagles, who have two QBs on their active roster, are planning to add a third — either a practice squad arm or a legit third-stringer — soon, and The Athletic’s Zach Berman and Bo Wulf note running back remains on the radar. The team kept three — Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell — but Sanders has been dealing with a hamstring injury.

Philadelphia’s receiver setup and a long football layoff did not leave much room for Allen, who has a rather notable career on which to fall back. A two-time U.S. Olympian in the 110-meter hurdles, Allen came to Eagles training camp after a controversial false-start infraction denied the medal favorite the opportunity to vie for gold on his home track at the World Track and Field Championships. The Oregon alum, whose 12.84-second time at a meet this summer is the third-fastest clocking ever in the 110 hurdles, caught a deep touchdown during the preseason but may well move back to his primary sport soon.

Ward became needed during the Eagles’ injury-plagued receiver seasons of 2019 and ’20; he caught 53 passes in the latter campaign. The ex-college QB was not used as much last season, catching seven balls in 17 games. The Eagles kept three rookie UDFAs (cornerback Josh Jobe, safety Reed Blankenship and offensive lineman Josh Sills).

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