The Chicago Bears had to get their roster from 85 players down to 80 today to comply with the NFL rules. Then, next week the big jump from 80 to 53 will come. With that in mind, we speculated on some names that could be released, but the team went in a bit of a different direction, only having one of those names on the list of released players.
Who were the five players that the Chicago Bears let go?
5. Dazz Newsome
This may be the least surprising. If anything, only the timing was not expected. Still, Newsome was looking at a deck stacked against him. His greatest attribute was the return game, and that is where the team drafted Velus Jones and Trestan Ebner.
They also signed Dante Pettis, who appeared to pass Newsome on the punt return depth chart last week. Once Newsome was down to third-string in punt returns, you knew the question was just when not if Newsome would be let go.
Newsome was a Ryan Pace draft pick, and he likely saw the writing on the wall with the new front office in place. With that in mind, it probably benefits him to get released now, because it gives him a week to catch on somewhere else before the season starts.
Newsome will be fortunate to get another preseason on a new roster so long s he signs with his new team early enough. That is a nice benefit the Chicago Bears gave him by letting him go now.