You think work on NFL Draft Weekend ends when the picks stop.
Au contraire mon frère.
The post-Draft free agent signings of players who weren’t chosen in the 2021 NFL Draft is the next stop on the offseason train. And the Chicago Bears talent accumulation express chugs on:
• Daniel Archibong, DL, Temple (Temple Football)
• Gage Cervenka, OL, Clemson (Gage Cervenka’s Twitter)
• Scooter Harrington, TE, Stanford (Stanford Football)
• Caleb Johnson, LB, Houston Baptist (HBU Athletics)
• Sam Kamara, DT, Stony Brook (Pelissero)
• CJ Marable, RB, Coastal Carolina (CJ Marable’s Twitter)
• Dareuan Parker, OL, Mississippi State (Mississippi State Football)
• Dionté Ruffin, CB, Western Kentucky (WKU Football)
• Thomas Schaffer, DL, Stanford (Pelissero)
• Charles Snoweden, EDGE, Virginia (Tom Pelissero)
• Gunnar Vogel, OL, Northwestern (Pat Fitzgerald)
This is where some of the best organizations build depth throughout the roster by unearthing diamond-in-the-rough types to load the bottom half of the roster. Once in a while, the hard work that comes with the roster churn is rewarded with a the shiniest gem.
Standouts such as Adan Thielen, Chris Harris Jr., Jason Peters, Antonio Gates, and Kurt Warner went undrafted before reaching NFL stardom. More locally – and recently – I think about players such as Roy Robertson-Harris, Bryce Callahan, and Cre’Von LeBlanc as post-draft free agent signings who worked out well for the Bears. Frankly, I’m looking forward to adding to that list in the near future.