One day after trading for former Seattle Seahawks pass rusher Darrell Taylor and two days after head coach Matt Eberflus publicly said there was a depth concern on the defensive line, the Chicago Bears have agreed to another trade.
According to ESPN's Courtney Cronin , the Bears have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns sending a 2025 sixth-round pick in exchange for defensive tackle Chris Williams and a 2025 seventh-round pick.
The extra player in the room now gives the Bears another player to choose from when it comes to creating the 53-man roster by Tuesday afternoon .
Williams, the former undrafted free agent out of Wagner, will be joining his fourth team of his career. Williams appeared in 13 games in his career with the Indianapolis Colts from 2021-2022. In Indianapolis, Williams overlapped with Eberflus, who served as his defensive coordinator in 2021.
Just like the trade for Taylor, Williams was on the roster bubble and in danger of being released from the Browns following their final preseason game. The Bears avoid fighting for him on waivers by agreeing to the late round pick swap.
Williams had two sacks and four QB hits for the Browns on 45 total defensive snaps this preseason.
The interior of the Bears defensive line especially needed some depth following the final preseason game. Behind starters Gervon Dexter Sr. and Andrew Billings, the room was really lacking after second-year Zacch Pickens got injured in practice. The severity of Pickens' injury is still unknown, but defensive coordinator Eric Washington didn't sound optimistic about the injury.
"Well, at this particular point, I'm just looking forward to him getting the treatment that he needs and just getting some of the feedback from our medical staff and also from Zacch," Washington said . "Right now, I can't really give an opinion on (availability for Week 1) one way or the other, because he incurred what he did. And right now I wouldn't say that he may or may not be available for us."
Williams' addition is not a good sign for other players in the room such as Byron Cowart and Michael Dwumfour who were looking to make the team.
As for the 2025 draft picks, the Bears traded the sixth-round pick the team acquired from trading wide receiver Chase Claypool to the Miami Dolphins and now have the following picks in next year's draft after trading for Taylor and Williams over the last 24 hours:
- 2025 first-round
- 2025 second-round
- 2025 second-round (via Panthers)
- 2025 third-round
- 2025 fifth-round
- 2025 sixth-round (via Steelers, conditional fourth-round)
- 2025 seventh-round (via Browns)
Related: Bears answer lingering question on the defensive line by trading for a former second-round pick following final preseason game
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