Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DT Justin Jones
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: RB Mekhi Sargent
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: OL Alex Bars
Catching up on some minor moves from what has been a busy day as we all gear up for free agency:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Jalen Davis, LS Clark Harris
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed ERFAs: OL Alex Bars, LB Josh Woods, LB James Vaughters, RB Ryan Nall, TE J.P. Holtz
Las Vegas Raiders
- Re-signed RFA: LS Trent Sieg (to three-year extension)
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed off waivers from Texans: DB Mark Fields
Here’s a rundown of early-week minor NFL moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: OL John Wetzel
- Waived/Injured: P Matt Wile
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: S Bennett Jackson (from Jets’ practice squad)
- Placed on IR: S DeShon Elliott
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: WR Ray-Ray McCloud
Chicago Bears
- Promoted from practice squad: OL Alex Bars
Cincinnati Bengals
- Claimed: OL Fred Johnson (from Steelers)
- Placed on IR: DE Kerry Wynn
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: DT John Atkins
- Waived: WR Tom Kennedy
Green Bay Packers
- Promoted: TE Evan Baylis
- Released: CB Tremon Smith
Houston Texans
- Signed: T Dan Skipper (from Patriots’ practice squad)
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DT Carl Davis
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed: CB Ryan Lewis (from Eagles)
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: DE Tashawn Bower
New England Patriots
- Signed: TE Eric Tomlinson
- Placed on IR: FB Jakob Johnson
- Waived: QB Cody Kessler
New York Jets
- Signed: S Blake Countess
- Waived: CB Arthur Maulet
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: CB Ryan Lewis
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Alex Ellis
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DE L.T. Walton
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: LB Devante Bond, WR Bobo Wilson
Washington Redskins
- Signed: FB Michael Burton
- Placed on IR: TE Jerome Cunningham
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings are noted below.
Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Chicago Bears
- Signed to practice squad:
- OL Alex Bars
- QB Tyler Bray
- DB Stephen Denmark
- LB Jonathan Harris
- TE Jesper Horsted
- WR Thomas Ives
- DB Michael Joseph
- OL Sam Mustipher
- RB Ryan Nall
- LB James Vaughters
Detroit Lions
- Signed to practice squad:
- DT John Atkins
- WR Jonathan Duhart
- WR Tom Kennedy
- LB Steve Longa
- TE Isaac Nauta
- T Matt Nelson
- LB Anthony Pittman
- RB Mark Thompson
- TE Austin Traylor
- DE Jonathan Wynn
Green Bay Packers
- Signed to practice squad:
- TE Evan Baylis
- RB Tra Carson
- CB Kabion Ento
- WR Allen Lazard
- DL James Looney
- T Yosh Nijman
- LB Randy Ramsey
- LB Brady Sheldon
- WR Malik Taylor
- QB Manny Wilkins
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed to practice squad:
- FB Khari Blasingame
- QB Jake Browning
- T Aviante Collins
- LB Devante Downs
- DE Stacy Keely
- CB Nate Meadors
- WR Dillon Mitchell
- K Chase McLaughlin
- LB Cameron Smith
The Bears reached the NFL’s mandatory 53-man limit by dropping 34 players and placing two players on IR.
Here’s the full breakdown:
Waived:
RB Josh Caldwell
RB Ryan Nall
WR Tanner Gentry
WR Taquan Mizzell Sr.
WR Marvin Hall
WR Thomas Ives
WR Joe Walker
WR Jordan Williams-Lambert
TE Ellis Richardson
TE Jesper Horsted
TE Ian Bunting
OL Jordan McCray
OL Alex Bars
OL Sam Mustipher
OL Marquez Tucker
OL Joe Lowery
OL Tommy Doles
DE Jonathan Bullard
DL Jonathan Harris
DL Jalen Dalton
DL Daryle Banfield
LB Jameer Thurman
OLB Chuck Harris
OLB Matt Betts
CB Michael Joseph
CB John Franklin III
CB Clifton Duck
S Jonathon Mincy Sr.
S Doyin Jibowu
LS John Wirtel
OLB Kylie Fitts
OLB James Vaughters
CB Stephen Denmark
Released:
QB Tyler Bray
Placed on IR:
TE Dax Raymond
G Blake Blackmar
The Bears had some “inside information” on undrafted lineman Alex Bars, leading to the rookie’s signing. As Adam Jahns of The Athletic writes, Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand was Bars’ position coach at Notre Dame.
The talented lineman suffered both a torn ACL and MCL this past September, leading to him missing the season and going undrafted. The organization believes Bars was a draftable talent, and Hiestand was able to vouch for the six-foot-six, 315-pound lineman.
“There is no question he would had been [drafted] — there is no question,” Hiestand said. “We benefited from that. I personally know the guy that did the surgery. His son plays sports with my son back there. And he was like super confident on what was done. People are playing with what he had done all over the place.”
The Bears brought Bars along slowly during their offseason workouts. However, assuming he gets fully healthy, the lineman will have a chance to earn a roster spot.
“He’ll have the chance because he’s smart,” Hiestand said. “He understands the technique. He knows what to do. … But when we put the pads on that’s when you make or don’t make the team.”
Some more notes from the football world:
- The XFL’s salary structure will be different than that of the defunct Alliance of American Football, tweets Greg Auman of The Athletic. The standard salary will be around $60K, while the top-tier quarterbacks could earn up to six figures. The AAF generally handed out non-guaranteed, three-year deals worth $250K. We recently heard that this paid gig could be enticing to players who are not yet eligible for the NFL Draft. Players who are forced to wait three years until after leaving high school could jump to Vince McMahon‘s football experiment 2.0 to jumpstart their professional career rather than play for free in college while risking injury.
- With NBA free agency starting this Sunday, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com prepares for the pundits who will compare the impending deals to those in the NFL. Outside of each league’s respective salary caps, Florio points to a variety of reasons why basketball players tend to earn more than football players, noting that the NBA has more games and smaller rosters. Most notably, Florio believes the NFL’s top players “don’t squeeze teams for top dollars the way they could or should,” and he focused on the deals signed by Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson. Finally, Florio defends the NFL’s non-guaranteed contracts, noting that NFL deals would be significantly shorter if they were guaranteed.
- How much money will Bengals wideout Tyler Boyd make on his next contract? One writer believes he should be eyeing deals signed by Giants receiver Sterling Shepard and Raiders wideout Tyrell Williams.
The Bears have quite a big UDFA class. Chicago announced that they have signed the following 22 undrafted free agents:
- Alex Bars, OL (Notre Dame) ($35K of his base salary guaranteed, $5K signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle on Twitter)
- Sam Mustipher, OL (Notre Dame)
- Daryle Banfield, DL (Brown)
- John Baron II, K (San Diego State)
- Matt Betts, LB (Laval)
- Blake Blackmar, OL (Baylor)
- Ian Bunting, TE (California)
- Jomon Dotson, DB (Nevada)
- Clifton Duck, DB (Appalachian State)
- Emanuel Hall, WR (Missouri)
- Jonathan Harris, DL (Lindenwood)
- Chuck Harris, LB (Buffalo)
- Thomas Ives, WR (Colgate)
- Doyin Jibowu, DB (Fort Hays State)
- Joe Lowery, OL (Ohio)
- Lawrence Marshall, DE (Michigan)
- Adarius Pickett, DB (UCLA)
- Dax Raymond, TE (Utah State) ($30K of his base salary guaranteed with a $15K signing bonus, per Wilson on Twitter)
- Ellis Richardson, TE (Georgia Southern)
- Josh Simmons, DB (Limestone)
- Marquez Tucker, OL (Southern Utah)
- John Wirtel, LS (Kansas)
The Bears opted for a lot of small school players, adding guys from places like Limestone, Colgate, Fort Hays State, Lindenwood, and Laval. The signings of Bars and Mustipher are notable because they have a connection to the coaching staff. Both players were coached by current Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand when they were at Notre Dame. The Bears hired Hiestand away from Notre Dame before last season, and he knows what he’s getting in these two players.
It’s also notable that the Bears signed a kicker, because the job will be up for grabs in training camp. Chicago is looking to replace Cody Parkey after his disastrous 2018 season, and they need someone consistent. Baron was a solid college kicker at SDSU with a big leg, as his career long was 54 yards, which is pretty impressive for a college kicker. The Bears already have former AAF kicker Elliott Fry and former Tulsa kicker Redford Jones on the roster, so they’re clearly planning on having a battle royale kicking competition this offseason.