Bears CB Deiondre' Hall Suspended One Game
- The Bears announced (via Twitter) that cornerback Deiondre’ Hall has been suspended for the first game of the upcoming season for violating the NFL’s Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. The 2016 fourth-rounder has appeared in 10 games through two seasons with Chicago, collecting nine tackles, three passes defended, and one interception. He was already on the roster bubble for the Bears, and his suspension might improve Doran Grant or Jonathon Mincy‘s chances of making the roster.
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Bears' Leonard Floyd Has Surgery
Bears outside linebacker Leonard Floyd had surgery to repair a break in his right hand, as Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. However, coach Matt Nagy is hopeful that he’ll be able to play Week 1.
Floyd missed six games last year after tearing the MCL and PCL in his right knee, and the Bears do not want to lose him for any amount of time this year. Before that injury, he was on track to match and possibly top the seven sacks that he collected during his rookie season.
Adam Shaheen Avoids Serious Injury
- The Bears received better news regarding a young player’s injury. Adam Shaheen required a cart to leave the field during Saturday night’s Bears-Broncos game thanks to a first-quarter setback. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets the second-year tight end is not believed to have suffered a serious injury. The 2017 second-rounder is dealing with a low ankle sprain, per Rapoport. Although more tests will be in store for the small-school product, Shaheen has a chance to play in Week 1.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/16/18
Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Claimed: DL Albert Havili (from Chargers)
- Waived/Injured: DT Marquavius Lewis
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LS Tanner Carew
- Waived/Injured: LB Andrew Trumbetti
Denver Broncos
- Signed: DT DeQuinton Osborne
- Waived/injured: DT Paul Boyette
Bears Officially Sign Roquan Smith
Roquan Smith is officially in the fold. On Tuesday morning, the Bears announced that Smith has signed his rookie deal. 
The Bears, predictably, did not release the details of Smith’s pact, but per the terms of his slot, we know that the No. 8 overall pick has received a four-year, $18MM guaranteed pact. And, via Mike Florio of PFT, we have the details on his guarantee structure in the event of discipline.
The two sides hammered out a formula that protects Smith against most of the potential incidents that would take place on the field. Smith’s guarantees will void only if the league office suspends him for three games or more for something that would happen during a play, such as lowering his helmet or roughing the quarterback. That’s not a cumulative three games, so Smith can be suspended for one or two games multiple times throughout his contract without forfeiting guarantees.
If Smith is suspended for one game for a post-play infraction in which he’s defending himself or a teammate, he’ll maintain his guarantees. For two games, however, he’ll forfeit them. If he’s deemed to be the aggressor in a post-play incident and suspended for one game, he will lose his guarantees.
Ultimately, the Bears had to deviate quite a bit from the standard language in order to get Smith on the practice field. It’s not ideal for Chicago, but the team is undoubtedly relieved to have its top draft pick under contract.
Bears To Sign Rookie LB Roquan Smith
The Bears and first round linebacker Roquan Smith have finally agreed to terms on his rookie deal, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The agreement means that the longest rookie holdout of 2018 is finally over. 
[RELATED: Bears Sign Knile Davis]
Smith stayed away from the Bears as his agents balked at language in the Bears’ proposal. His reps wanted his guarantees protected in the event of league discipline, which spans off-the-field issues as well as late hits and things of that nature on the field. It’s not immediately clear where things landed, but we should know the specifics soon.
Smith, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft, is believed by some to have one of the highest ceilings of any player in this year’s class. Smith finished in the top ten of Heisman voting in his final year at Georgia as he tallied 137 total tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, and 6.5 sacks.
The rookie projects to start at outside linebacker for the Bears this year, opposite of Leonard Floyd. Smith may be behind the 8-ball in learning every part of the scheme, but the Bears are hopeful that he’ll be able to get on track quickly.
Per the terms of his slot, Smith’s deal will come in as a four-year, $18MM guaranteed pact.
Bears Sign Knile Davis, Cut Kaleb Johnson
The Bears have signed free agent running back Knile Davis, as Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk reports. In a corresponding move, the team has released offensive lineman Kaleb Johnson, who was signed just last week.
In Chicago, Davis will reunite with Matt Nagy, the Bears’ new head coach who served as the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach during Davis’ first three seasons in Kansas City (the Chiefs selected Davis, an Arkansas product, in the third round of the 2013 draft). The Chiefs elevated Nagy to offensive coordinator in 2016, and they traded Davis to the Packers for a conditional draft pick in October of that year. Green Bay released him just two weeks later, and Davis re-signed with Kansas City shortly thereafter.
Davis was reasonably effective during his first two years in the league, rushing for 705 yards and 10 touchdowns as a change-of-pace back. He also ran back a kickoff for a touchdown in 2013 and 2014, and even though his workload as a running back was dramatically reduced in 2015, he still returned 29 kicks.
However, he was released by the Steelers before the start of the 2017 campaign, and he was not picked up by any other club (though he did work out for the Jets last September). As Williams notes, if Davis is to crack Chicago’s roster, he will likely have to do so on the strength of his return ability. The Bears boast a fairly crowded backfield, headlined by Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, but Davis does appear to have a fan in Nagy.
Michael Vick To Coach In AAF
A former franchise quarterback will add his name to the growing list of high-profile ex-NFL players, coaches and executives who will work with the Alliance of American Football.
Michael Vick‘s set to be affiliated with the AAF, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports. Vick will call plays for the Brad Childress-coached Atlanta franchise.
Vick worked with Childress recently as well, serving as a coaching intern with the Chiefs during their 2017 training camp when Childress was on Kansas City’s staff. Vick last played for the 2015 Steelers. The former Falcons quarterback joins Troy Polamalu, Hines Ward and Jared Allen in attaching their names to the new venture.
At least one NFL team is also helping the AAF prepare for what figures to be an interesting talent-gathering period. The Bears provided the AAF’s Phoenix franchise’s GM, Phil Savage, a list of players to scout while he was at Chicago’s camp, Fowler notes. The AAF plans to primarily target players that don’t make NFL rosters this year.
Set to launch in February 2019, the eight-team league has its head coaches signed up and contract structure set at three-year, $250K agreements. The $83K-per-year contracts, which include out clauses in case an NFL team comes calling, are non-guaranteed and fall well short of NFL practice squad salaries (up to $129K for a 17-week season this season). But NFL practice squad spots will assuredly be more coveted real estate than AAF rosters next year. Although, incentives will be available in these AAF deals, and marketing and public appearances can trigger these bonuses, per Fowler. Set for a 2020 debut, the XFL is planning to pay players $75K per year, which will make for interesting bidding wars as these leagues attempt to find their footing.
NFL personnel have lamented the lack of a developmental league in the years since NFL Europe’s demise, and Fowler writes the AAF may be closer to the NBA’s G League, rather than serving as competition.
“Our objective is to take some of those people who can’t quite make it and make them into quality NFL players,” AAF exec Bill Polian said, via Fowler.
Looking At Roquan Smith's Holdout
- Bears linebacker Roquan Smith is the only remaining unsigned 2018 draft pick and Joel Corry of CBSSports.com has a suggestion for how the two sides can bridge the gap. Smith’s contract, he writes, could have similar language to what was in Ndamukong Suh‘s Dolphins contract. Smith’s camp doesn’t want his guarantees to void in the event of league discipline, but a compromise could involve a clause that says Smith would have to be suspended for at a certain percentage of the season’s game in order for the guarantees to be 86’d. In Suh’s case, that number was 25%.
Bears Audition Alex Officer
- The Bears worked out free agent interior offensive lineman Alex Officer, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Officer went undrafted out of Pittsburgh earlier this year but landed a deal with the Raiders in May. He was waived just two weeks into his Oakland tenure, and has been sitting on the open market since. Per Wilson, Officer conducted a solid workout, but Chicago isn’t aiming to sign him immediately.