Bears Roster Moves: Week 14

A win in week 13 hasn’t stopped the Bears from trying to improve their roster for the rest of the season. The Bears have been busy this week, like most, trying to improve the bottom of their roster. Below is a breakdown of the Bears roster moves this week.

Bears sign CB Johnthan Banks

Tampa Bay drafted Banks early in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft after an impressive college career at Mississippi St that included being named first team All-SEC, 2nd team All-American, and winning the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in college football.

Banks was widely considered a first round corner and was compared to both Patrick Peterson and Aqib Talib coming out of college. Obviously Banks didn’t play as well as either early in his NFL career or he wouldn’t be available for the Bears to sign off the waiver wire.

He has started 37 games in his four-year NFL career and has 7 interceptions, 123 tackles, and 1 touchdown so far. Banks was a great fit for Lovie Smith’s cover two scheme, but wasn’t as effective one Smith was fired. He was traded to the Lions about a month ago for a 7th round pick, but released a few days ago after not fitting into the Lions scheme either.

The Bears were quick to sign Banks, since they have been looking for an effective tall corner since before the 2015 season (Alan Ball??). Banks has the size the Bears are looking for (6’2, 185) and has shown enough potential to deserve another chance.

With all the injuries in the Bears secondary, Banks should get plenty of snaps over the next few weeks to prove if he belongs in the plans for 2017. I like the signing and think the Bears could have found a steal.