Chicago Bears: Early tight end depth chart projection with Cole Kmet

Getting a Pink Slip

Now that we know who the starters will be, it is now time to see who is going to be cut? Dax Raymond was the first cut at the position. Now the team finds themselves with nine tight ends officially on the roster. However, Raymond will not be the first to go. The team will likely keep four to five tight ends on the roster. This means at least another four to five tight ends will be shown the door or placed on the practice squad.

Putting the practice squad to the side, let us narrow down the field first. Adam Shaheen has to be a guaranteed cut. He will still save the team over $1 million dollars in salary cap room. Eric Saubert is the next tight end I would expect to be shown the door. He brings little value or upside. As much as I like Ben Braunecker as a backup, I think he could be the next one gone. We have seen Braunecker enough over the years and this year he too will save around $1 million dollars.

This leaves Demetrius Harris, JP Holtz, Jesper Horsted and Darion Clark to narrow things down. I would expect that they keep both Harris and Holtz as backups. Nagy is familiar with Harris and Holtz proved himself last season. If they keep five tight ends, it would mean either Horsted or Clark are kept. Horsted has the upper hand, but if they keep five, the other one will likely be on the practice squad.

This means, not taking into consideration Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet, only two of the nine tight ends on the roster are likely to be truly cut. At most I only envision three receiving a pink slip. Where does this leave everyone else?