NEWSLETTER
The NFL’s trade deadline passed on November 1. And the league’s free agency period won’t open until mid-March. But you know better than to think that that league’s roster churn will ever stop.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the Chicago Bears’ latest bit of roster shuffling:
Hope you got your dancing shoes on for this shuffle. Now, get your right foot on the dance floor as we sort through the madness:
Welcome back, Khalil Herbert. When Herbert went on IR, he left a gaping hole in the Bears’ rushing game. In his absence, David Montgomery has been running strong and Justin Fields has been re-writing the record books. Unfortunately, there was no back who stepped into Herbert’s place and made us forget he was gone in the first place. Trestan Ebener looks like a project, which isn’t unsurprising for a Day 3 rookie. But it isn’t encouraging to see how lost he is when he gets his snaps. And Velus Jones Jr., who should’ve taken the opportunity to be used in a different way and ran with it, literally fumbled away another chunk of goodwill with his most recent carry. TL;DR — it’ll be nice to have the Herbert-Fields-Monty three-headed rushing monster back in action.
Welcome to the party, Elijah Lee. The 26-year-old outside linebacker was a seventh-round pick by the Vikings in 2017 after earning first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2016. Lee has NFL experience with the Vikings (2017), 49ers (2017-19), Lions (2020), Browns (2020-21), and Chiefs (2022). There isn’t much on Lee’s résumé, but I can appreciate this front office shuffling through players.
Joining the Bears’ practice squad are linebackers Kuony Deng and defensive end Terrell Lewis. Deng was in town for a workout with the Bears back in September. So I imagine signing him to the practice squad suggests someone in Chicago’s front office liked what they saw. As for Lewis, the 24-year-old defensive end was a third-round pick by the Rams in 2020. And he was part of the Rams’ Super Bowl championship-winning squad last year.
This is a fun dice roll on a player with a prospect pedigree that’s worth digging into after being a standout at Alabama as a collegiate player. Check out some of these clips:
The Bears’ need at the defensive end is one of football’s worst-kept secrets. And while I don’t expect Lewis to solve all their problems, perhaps he can play his way into a depth role.
Not to be lost in the shuffle, the Bears had to make room on the dance floor by releasing defensive back Justin Layne.
