Ben Braunecker has spent two seasons on the active roster. Can the Chicago Bears try to get him onto the practice squad one more time?
2016 was the preseason hype of Ben Braunecker followed by a strong end to his season. However, it is tough to say that he progressed in 2017, as he hardly played even with a Zach Miller injury.
Still, Ben Braunecker has been active for most of the past two seasons. He has provided special teams value and has stayed on the active roster for 21 games over the first two seasons.
However, the team signed Trey Burton this summer. They drafted Adam Shaheen last season and signed Dion Sims in that same offseason. On top of that Daniel Brown would be a strong Burton back up. It would be tough to argue for any team to keep more than four tight ends, so as the roster stands today Ben Braunecker would have low odds of making the 53-man.
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Still, the team would probably like to keep him around. He has built up a report, he has special teams value, and we all know the Chicago Bears have not been the healthiest team. For the third season, can the team start Braunecker on the practice squad?
According to the new CBA, yes. In the old days, he would have been ineligible after his first season. He likely would not even be on the Bears today.
However, new rules state that a player with two seasons of accrued playing time (six after games in a season) can be one of four exceptions to a teams practice squad.
This is only going to apply to so many players making it hard to assume that Braunecker will not start another season on the Chicago Bears practice squad.