Bears Were “In The Running” For Tom Brady
It seems like just yesterday that the Tom Brady free agency rumors were dominating the NFL news cycle. And while Brady will be making his much-anticipated debut for the Buccaneers this afternoon, perhaps he instead could have been suiting up for the Bears in their Week 1 matchup against the Lions.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Bears — who took a look at every QB available on the market before swinging a trade for Nick Foles — made an offer to Brady. It’s unclear what that offer looked like, but Rapoport says Chicago was indeed in the running, though Brady was not particularly keen on signing with a cold-weather club.
Ultimately, the Florida sunshine and Tampa’s loaded receiving corps helped lure Brady to the Bucs. The Bears, despite the trade for Foles and the reworked contract they gave him, have elected to kick off the regular season with embattled signal-caller Mitch Trubisky under center.
Rapoport — along with Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com — adds that there was mutual interest between Brady and the Saints when it was unclear if Drew Brees was going to retire or not. We already wrote about the New Orleans-Brady connection back in June, so this is not exactly news.
Interestingly, though, Jeff Duncan of The Athletic says that the Saints were Brady’s preferred landing spot if Brees had elected to head to the broadcasting booth in 2020 (Twitter link). Duncan adds that Brees was closer to retirement than many realize, so instead of seeing the two 40-something QBs battle each other today, we might have seen Brady in black-and-gold taking on Brees’ new backup and former Tampa starter Jameis Winston.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/12/20
Here are Saturday’s minor moves. Many of these roster decisions involve practice squad promotions. Under the new CBA, teams are permitted to promote two P-squad players without corresponding roster moves per week. Teams can carry 55 players on their rosters for game days and can have up to 48 active.
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: RB D.J. Foster
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: S Jordan Richards
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: K Cairo Santos
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: DE Amani Bledsoe, S Trayvon Henderson
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: CB Robert Jackson
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: G Kenny Wiggins, RB Jonathan Williams
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: LB Krys Barnes
- Promoted: LB Tipa Galeai, TE John Lovett
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: RB Nathan Cottrell, TE Ben Ellefson
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: G Ryan Groy, FB Gabe Nabers
Miami Dolphins
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DB Nate Brooks
Minnesota Vikings
- Promoted: LB Hardy Nickerson
- Signed: DB Nate Meadors
New England Patriots
- Promoted: K Nick Folk, DT Xavier Williams
- Placed on IR: WR Gunner Olszewski
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted: WR Bennie Fowler, DL Margus Hunt
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DE Anthony Lanier
New York Jets
- Signed: QB Mike White
- Promoted: RB Josh Adams, WR Josh Malone
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: DT T.Y. McGill, G Sua Opeta
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: C Hroniss Grasu, CB Dontae Johnson
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted: T Chad Wheeler
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: WR Cyril Grayson, DB Mazzi Wilkins
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: WR Cam Sims
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/8/20
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DL Angelo Blackson
- Waived: DL Michael Dogbe
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DE Mario Edwards
- Placed on IR: K Eddy Pineiro
Denver Broncos
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Troy Fumagalli
New England Patriots
- Promoted: LB Cassh Maluia, RB J.J. Taylor
- Placed on IR: RB Damien Harris, DL Beau Allen
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted: WR Penny Hart
- Waived: WR John Ursua
Bears Announce 16-Man Practice Squad
Teams are starting to announce their full expanded practice squads, and we’ll be bringing you recaps all day. Just in is the Chicago Bears, who announced a full slate of 16 players:
- QB Tyler Bray
- RB Artavis Pierce
- WR Reggie Davis
- S Stephen Denmark
- WR Thomas Ives
- WR Rodney Adams
- TE Jesper Horsted
- OL Sam Mustipher
- OL Jamon Brown
- OL Lachavious Simmons
- OL Badara Traore
- DT Abdullah Anderson
- DE LaCale London
- LB Rashad Smith
- S Xavier Crawford
- K Cairo Santos
Bray has bounced between the practice squad and active roster the past couple of years now, and will serve as the third quarterback behind Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles. Santos is a veteran kicker with a good amount of experience. Right after he was cut we heard the Bears might be planning on him kicking Week 1 against the Lions if Eddy Pineiro still isn’t ready to come back from his groin injury.
Everybody on this list was with the Bears for camp except Brown, who was cut by the Falcons last month. He signed a three-year $18.75MM deal last March, and started nine games for Atlanta last season.
Bears To Sign DE Mario Edwards
It didn’t take long for Mario Edwards to find a new home. One day after being released by the Saints, the veteran defensive end has agreed to sign with the Bears, as Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter).
New Orleans was reportedly interested in re-signing Edwards to its practice squad, but the Bears were quick to pounce in an effort to bolster their defensive line depth. Though Chicago’s LB corps looks pretty stout, the club is a bit thin along the D-line in the wake of Eddie Goldman‘s decision to opt out of the 2020 season.
Edwards is not a replacement for Goldman, a nose tackle, but he will provide a more experienced DE to bookend with Akiem Hicks. He will likely push 2018 fifth-rounder Bilal Nichols for playing time.
Now 26, Edwards has never lived up to his status as a second-round draft choice. The Raiders selected the Florida State product in the 2015 draft, but he was waived after three seasons with Oakland. The Giants claimed him off waivers, and he parlayed his one year with Big Blue into a two-year, $5MM pact with the Saints last offseason. New Orleans liked him enough to keep him on this year’s practice squad but did not consider him good enough to be a part of its deep D-line rotation.
The Bears, however, don’t have as much depth, so they will give Edwards a spot on the 53-man roster.
Bears Release K Cairo Santos
Cairo Santos‘ time in Chicago didn’t last long. Just a couple weeks after signing with the Bears, the veteran kicker has been informed of his release, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
That being said, that doesn’t mean Santos won’t end up kicking for the team. Kicker Eddy Pineiro has been sidelined by a groin injury, and Biggs writes the team just wanted to have him make the initial 53 so he wouldn’t have to be lost for the season by going on injured reserve. Biggs doesn’t think Pineiro will be ready to kick Week 1, and he thinks the plan may be to re-sign Santos after the weekend and have him kick against Detroit.
Kicking has been a sore spot for the Bears the last few years, and it looks like things are up in the air yet again. Santos was the Chiefs’ kicker from 2014-17, but was replaced following an injury and has bounced around the league since. He spent a couple weeks with Chicago toward the end of the 2017 season, so there’s plenty of familiarity here.
North Notes: Bears, Packers, Tomlin, Browns
The Bears became the latest team to work out Jamon Brown, with SI.com’s Albert Breer tweeting the guard was in Chicago for an audition. The free agent guard, a Falcons cut last month, has already worked out for the 49ers. Brown was a full-time Rams starter in 2017, but a 2018 suspension derailed his momentum. The Rams waived him shortly after he returned from that ban, but he ended the ’18 season as a Giants first-stringer. The Bears are returning four starters from last season and have been trying ex-Seahawks right tackle Germain Ifedi at guard.
Here is the latest from the North divisions:
- The Steelers will let Mike Tomlin enter a contract year. Signed through 2021, Tomlin will not be extended this year, Art Rooney II said (via The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette, subscription required). The Steelers gave Tomlin his most recent extension last July, and he managed an eight-win season despite the largely Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers ranking 32nd in offensive DVOA. Rooney said he plans to address the contracts of Tomlin and GM Kevin Colbert, who just signed a one-year extension, in 2021.
- One of the league’s healthiest teams last season, the Packers may be down a starter in Week 1. Billy Turner suffered a knee injury during a scrimmage and is uncertain for Green Bay’s opener, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com notes. Turner played guard for the Packers last season but is competing with free agency addition Ricky Wagner at right tackle this year. Lane Taylor, who missed all of last season, is expected to play right guard opposite emerging talent Elgton Jenkins on the left side.
- For the second time in three weeks, the Browns brought in Cody Parkey for a visit. The veteran was part of a kicker group to work out for the Browns in August, though it was reported at the time the team was organizing a COVID-related emergency kicker list. Parkey briefly kicked for the Titans last season.
- Bears training camp coaching intern Henry Burris will stay on the team’s staff all season, Matt Nagy announced. Known mostly for his 17-season CFL run, Burris also was a Bears quarterback for a short time in the early 2000s. This will be his first NFL coaching gig.
- Vikings linebacker Cameron Smith underwent successful open-heart surgery recently, according to the Associated Press. Mike Zimmer said the second-year defender, who landed on Minnesota’s IR list, will remain in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future to recover.
Bears Expected To Start Mitchell Trubisky
Despite Nick Foles‘ superior NFL resume, the Bears are likely to start the season without a change at quarterback. Mitchell Trubisky is expected to start Chicago’s Week 1 game in Detroit after beating out Foles in a training camp competition, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This comes after a recent report indicated Foles was the more accurate passer during Bears camp, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (video link). But Trubisky was also reported to be improving. The Bears will give the former No. 2 overall pick another shot, despite not picking up his fifth-year option and trading for Foles this offseason.
Trubisky has been one of the NFL’s more maligned players over the course of his Chicago tenure. While he rated as QBR’s No. 3 passer in 2018 — when the Bears made a surprise run to the NFC North title — Trubisky regressed considerably in 2019. The former one-year North Carolina starter ranked 28th in QBR last season and averaged just 5.9 adjusted yards per attempt, prompting the Bears to acquire Foles from the Jaguars.
Foles, 31, did not fare particularly well last season either. After a broken collarbone sidelined him for much of his Jaguars debut/one-and-done season, Gardner Minshew supplanted him shortly after he returned to action. However, Foles orchestrated one of the best playoff stretches by a quarterback in NFL history in 2017, winning Super Bowl LII MVP honors. He then helped the Eagles back to the playoffs the following season, after replacing an injured Carson Wentz late in 2018. Foles’ Eagles beat Trubisky’s Bears in a wild-card game, though that contest is better known for Cody Parkey‘s game-ending missed field goal.
The Bears reworked Foles’ contract this offseason, but the veteran passer would still be a costly cut in 2021. A Foles release would not create any cap space for the Bears, and it would cost more than $10MM. But Trubisky is not under contract in 2021. He will, however, have a chance to bounce back in a contract year — at least at the season’s outset.
Bears Won’t Pursue Leonard Fournette
The Bears have been connected to 
Leonard Fournette, but it doesn’t sound like the former Jaguars standout will be coming to Chicago. When asked about the former No. 4 overall pick, head coach Matt Nagy told reporters that he’s comfortable with his current group of running backs (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson).
The Jaguars released Fournette earlier this week and all 31 of the league’s other teams passed on claiming the remainder of his contract. Fournette would have earned nearly $4.2MM for 2020, and that price tag was too high for everyone else. Now, Fournette is a full-fledged free agent, but he’ll likely have to settle for less money than he wanted.
Fournette totaled a career-high 1,674 yards from scrimmage last season, but Jay Gruden wasn’t a huge fan of his work. Instead, Gruden signed old pal Chris Thompson to lead the charge and add some pass-catching ability to the backfield. Ryquell Armstead, a 2019 fifth-rounder who averaged just 3.1 yards per carry as a rookie, also figures to have a sizable role at RB.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/31/20
Here are the NFL’s most recent minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: TE Ryan Becker, OL Steven Gonzalez, CB Zane Lewis, DE Adam Shuler
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: DE John Daka, WR Michael Dereus, C Sean Pollard
- Placed on IR: WR DeAndrew White
Chicago Bears
- Re-Signed: RB Napoleon Maxwell
- Placed on IR: CB Michael Joseph
Detroit Lions
- Signed: DT Olive Sagapolu
- Placed on IR: FB Nick Bawden
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR Andy Jones
- Waived: LB James Crawford
New York Jets
- Claimed (from Cardinals): CB Zane Lewis
- Waived: K Brett Maher
San Francisco 49ers
- Waived: DL Alex Barrett
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR Lance Lenoir
- Placed on IR: Branden Jackson
- Waived/injured: RB Patrick Carr
Washington Football Team
- Signed: WR Tony Brown
- Waived: WR Darvin Kidsy