The Chicago Bears have made some roster tweaks, so let’s prepare to talk through them.
Here is the official word:
#Bears roster moves:
We have waived LB James Vaughters and have signed RB Jeremy McNichols and LB Dewayne Hendrix to the practice squad.— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) November 19, 2019
Outside linebacker James Vaughers, who’s played 26 defensive snaps and appeared on 24 defensive plays over the last three games as a fill-in (while fellow linebacker Isaiah Irving was out with a quadriceps injury), has been waived. And while that’s undoubtedly a bummer for him it could be good news for the Bears.
Waiving Vaughers could be a sign that Irving is set to return soon. If so, it will be his first action since Week 8 against the Chargers. With that in mind, we’ll keep an eye on the injury report to see how much Irving participates.
It’s also worth noting that waiving Vaughters opens up a spot on the 53-man roster. I don’t think it would be wise to make any bold predictions, but it would be heady to keep an eye open, to see if the Bears add a running back to the mix after David Montgomery was limited in practice last week because of an ankle injury or if Tyler Bray gets a call up to the active roster because of Mitch Trubisky’s hip injury. We’ll keep tabs on that as more becomes available.
In addition to waiving Vaughters, the Bears also announced the signings of running back Jeremy McNichols and outside linebacker Dewayne Hendrix to the practice squad. McNichols was a fifth-round pick by the Buccaneers in 2017, which was probably viewed as a bit of a deal at the time considering his NFL.com draft projection had him going in the Round 3-4 range as an all-purpose threat who could run it out of the backfield, catch the ball in a pinch, and even return kicks. McNichols essentially takes the spot of rookie Kerrith Whyte Jr., who was poached by the Steelers over the weekend and signed off the Bears’ practice squad.
Hendrix is a rookie who signed on with the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent last April. He was a standout at Pitt, but was a highly recruited high school player from O’Fallon High School in the southern Illinois region who earned four-star prospect status. Despite having a standout preseason in Miami, Hendrix was cut from the practice squad in October and has been making the rounds at workouts since. Now, he lands an opportunity with the Bears.
It is always good to keep the ever-moving roster-churn in mind when these transactions cross the wire. You never know who could get brought up to the active roster and given a shot down the stretch, as talent evaluation season is beginning in earnest a bit earlier than any Bears fan would have expected.