Yesterday, we saw Ryan Poles work some magic in the waiver process. Alright, magic is way too strong of a word. The Chicago Bears only had six teams ahead of them in the claim process and that was for every (500-ish) player who was waived. Basically, Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears had their pick of the litter — including the 17th-overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, Alex Leatherwood.
The Chicago Bears won Alex Leatherwood and five others with waiver claims
The team won claims on six players yesterday.
- Alex Leatherwood, OT/OG
- Armon Watts, DT
- Kingsley Joseph, DE
- Sterling Weatherford, LB
- Josh Blackwell, CB
- Trevon Wesco, TE
Now, I saw some fans going crazy about this haul and I went to social media to express how I believe we need to temper our expectations here. When it comes to the waiver claim process, the chances of landing a quality starter are slim. These guys are cut for one reason or another.
That said, I also talked about how the Armon Watts and Alex Leatherwood claims intrigued me. Watts is probably the best of this group at this point in his career. He had a career year last year in Minnesota with five sacks and started throughout the back half of the season.