Could this recent signing make Chicago Bears roster?

Usually, when you see a signing in training camp it can often be a player who will get to work out for a few weeks to keep the position group if an injury occurred. With that in mind, it is rarer than not when a signing at this time makes the 53-man roster. However, as the Chicago Bears signed Trevon Coley recently he could be the expectation.

Coley was a UDFA and spent 2017 and 2018 on the Cleveland Browns. The team was going through their tanking stage, but still, Coley started in 27 games over two seasons. In 2019 he played rotationally for the Indianapolis Colts, and in 2020 he started two games with the Arizona Cardinals.

Coley spent training camp with the Tennessee Titans, but a preseason injury ended his season. Either way, aside from injuries he has been a rotational depth player. Beyond that, spending time with Matt Eberflus in 2019 cannot hurt his case for making the roster.

The biggest reason he could be useful is the depth chart on the Chicago Bears. Angelo Blackson and Justin Jones should be roster locks, although Blackson has been banged up. Still, it leaves Mario Edwards, Khyiris Tonga, and Mike Pennel as the most likely players to fill out the depth chart.

The issue is that Edwards is undersized for the interior, and may be better on the edge. Tonga and Pennel are nose tackles without much versatility. If Blackson ends up missing any time, they do not have a proper interior defensive lineman who can bounce from the three and five techniques.

So, an injury could help Coley make the roster. Beyond that, he could certainly make it because he outplays Tonga and Pennel, or because he brings more versatility up and down the line. He could end up being a third or fourth lineman rather quickly.

Trevon Coley is not a big name, and was signed late into training camp, but he could make the Chicago Bears 53-man roster.