A to Z Sports

Bears Roster Cuts Tracker 2024: Keeping tabs on all of the moves to get to 53

By Kole Noble,

13 hours ago

The 2024 NFL preseason is officially over.

The Chicago Bears brass will soon turn their attention to assembling the 53-man roster and 16-man practice squad. General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus have some difficult decisions ahead of the 53-man deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 4:00 p.m. EST.

Below you'll find everything you need to know about roster cuts ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

2024 NFL Roster Cuts Important Details:

Unlike the past few years, the NFL has reverted from gradual roster cuts throughout the preseason to a single deadline. Rosters must be reduced to 53 players virtually all at once. The team has several different transactions they can use to make that happen. Here are the terms you need to familiarize yourself with:

Released: When a vested veteran (those who have accrued four seasons in the NFL) is cut from a team. These players are not required to pass through waivers and can immediately become unrestricted free agents. Sometimes that means they'll sign with another team. Other times, teams can release these veterans and re-sign them after they've placed other players on injured reserve.
Waived: Players who have not accrued four seasons in the NFL are waived instead of being released. 31 NFL teams will have a chance to claim waived players on their 53-man roster by 12:00 p.m. EST on August 28. If players are not claimed on waivers, they become unrestricted free agents. Waiver priority this time of year is determined by team records from the previous season. The team with the worst record will get the top waiver priority, in this case, the Carolina Panthers. The Kansas City Chiefs will have the lowest waiver priority.
Waived/Injured: If these players clear waivers they will revert to the Bears’ injured reserve list. They can opt to spend the season with Chicago on IR or reach an injury settlement with the team, which will pay them for the number of weeks they'll miss with injury and make them an unrestricted free agent. Players who opt for the latter route can rejoin the team later in the season after they're healthy.
Injured Reserve: Up until this year, a player had to make the initial 53-man roster to be placed on IR and be eligible to return later in the season. Now, up to two players can be placed on IR on the day of final cuts (Tuesday) and be designated to return. Teams still have the option to carry injured players on the 53-man roster and some good reasons to do so. First, if a player is placed on IR, he is forced to miss at least four games. Second, if a player makes the initial 53 and is placed on IR on the following day, there are eight designations to return from IR — and another two for playoff teams.

Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List: Players on the Active/PUP list can be placed on the Reserve/PUP list in a move to get the roster down to 53 players. Players who are moved to the Reserve/PUP list do not count against the 53-man roster. They can attend team meetings, and use team facilities for rehab, but are not allowed to practice for four weeks. After four weeks, another 21-day window opens up, where the player can practice and be activated. If they’re not activated in those 21 days, they must be placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season.
Reserve/Non-football Injury/Illness (NFI) Lists : Players placed on either Reserve/NFI lists have to go through the same process as players on the Reserve/PUP list. They do not count toward the 53-man roster. They can go to team meetings and use facilities for rehab, but they’re not allowed to participate in practice for four weeks. After that, a four-week period opens where they can return to practice and the team can choose to activate the player. If the player isn’t activated at the end of the second four-week period, they’ll remain on injured reserve for the rest of the season. The big difference between the NFI and PUP lists is that teams can withhold a portion of a player’s salary if they’re placed on the NFI lists.
Reserve/Suspended List: Players who are placed on the Reserve/Suspended list have to serve out an NFL suspension. Players on this list do not count toward 53-man roster limits and are not paid their base salary.
Reserve/Did Not Report List: Players who are placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list have left their team.
Reserve/Retired List: Players who are placed on this list have retired from the NFL. This is a pretty rare transaction that you typically wouldn't see in a move to get to 53 players.

Bears' Key Position Battles:

The main position battle for the Bears is at the wide receiver position. Four players are confirmed at the position with Velus Jones Jr., Dante Pettis, Deandre Carter, and Collin Johnson fighting for the final spots. There is potentially one spot up for grabs in the backfield between Travis Homer and Ian Wheeler. Defensively, the biggest battle is on the defensive line with Jacob Martin, Dominque Robinson, Daniel Hardy, and Byron Cowart fighting for the last spots. Other depth battles are also currently going on at the linebacker and cornerback positions.

Players on the Bears' Roster Bubble:

I've counted 46 players who are on the roster bubble and at risk of not making the 53-man roster. This could be for a variety of reasons, be it performance, injury, availability, and so on.

QB Brett Rypien
QB Austin Reed
RB Travis Homer
RB Ian Wheeler
TE Tommy Sweeney
TE Stephen Carlson
TE Brenden Bates
WR Velus Jones Jr.
WR Dante Pettis
WR Deandre Carter
WR Collin Johnson
WR Nsimba Webster
WR John Jackson
WR Peter LeBlanc
OL Jerome Carvin
OL Larry Borom
OL Bill Murray
OL Ja'Tyre Carter
OL Aviante Collins
OL Jake Curhan
OL Doug Kramer
OL Theo Benedet
DT Byron Cowart
DT Keith Randolph Jr.
DT Michael Dwumfour
DT Dashaun Mallory
DT Jaylon Hutchings
DE Jacob Martin
DE Dominque Robinson
DE Daniel Hardy
DE Khalid Kareem
DE Carl Jones
DE Jamree Kromah
LB Micah Baskerville
LB Noah Sewell
LB Javin White
LB Paul Moala
CB Jaylon Jones
CB Josh Blackwell
CB Reddy Steward
CB Ro Torrance
CB Leon Jones
S Tarvarius Moore
S Adrian Colbert
S Douglas Coleman
S Quindell Johnson

NFL Practice Squad Rules:

After the claiming period has ended at 12:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Aug. 28, teams are permitted to assemble their 16-man practice squads. Here are the rules on who can be signed to the practice squad.

Players who do not have an accrued season (I.E. rookies).
Players who were on the active roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s).
Up to four players per team with no more than two accrued seasons.
Up to six players per team with no accrued season limitations (I.E. vested veterans).

Players the Bears Placed on Injured Reserve:

Earlier this week, the Bears placed wide receiver Freddie Swain on the injured reserve ahead of the final preseason game. Swain will miss the 2024 season unless he reaches an injury settlement with the Bears.

Players the Bears Placed on PUP/NFI lists:

The Bears don't have any players currently on the active versions of the above lists after activating rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie from the NFI list a few days ago.

Bears Trades:

After it was made crystal clear that the Bears wanted to add another quality player to the defensive line, the front office was able to achieve that goal on Friday by trading for former Seahawks' second-round pick Darrell Taylor to add depth to the room .

Bears’ 2024 roster cuts: 91*

*The Bears had 91 players on the training camp / preseason roster with rookie punter Tory Taylor getting a roster exemption.

The team has not made any roster cuts yet, but we will provide updates as they come in. . .