Chicago Bears: Four players who were surprise roster cuts
By Cody Young
Chicago Bears Surprise Cut: Thomas Graham showed plenty of upside in camp
Player No. 3: Thomas Graham Jr
Sticking with the 2021 draft class, yet another surprise cut was letting go of Thomas Graham Jr. Just like Newsome, Graham was also drafted in the sixth round and was someone who I thought would fight for some slot reps.
One of the biggest weaknesses of this whole Bears roster is the CB position. Letting go of veteran CB Kyle Fuller was met with much criticism when the team parted ways with the Pro-Bowl corner. Even more frustrating was not doing much to address the position.
The team is putting a lot of faith in Jaylon Johnson taking that next step and while he had a strong rookie season. Johnson doesn’t lack confidence and he may very well be up to the task but that is a big ask of the second-year player, who does have an injury history.
Beyond that, the team is left with guys like Duke Shelley and Kindle Vildor, neither of whom have sown much throughout their careers. Even though Graham was selected on day three, he was still someone who had some upside.
He was a very solid CB during his time at Oregon and the argument could be made that opting out of the 2020 season may have hurt his draft stock. Similar to Newsome, Graham is another name to keep an eye on as a possible practice squad guy if he can clear waivers.