The Chicago Bears could make these three surprise cuts in 2023

Chicago Bears Surprise Cut Candidate: Velus Jones, WR

It is not often that a team moves on from a third-round draft pick in just one season. Players like this usually see two to three years based on the cost to keep them around vs the draft capital used to bring them in. I am not so sure that Velus Jones, Jr. sees what is considered usual. There is a legit chance that he is cut after only one season. This may not exactly surprise many Chicago Bears fans, but cutting a player that early isn’t the norm and should be surprising based on historical evidence that teams keep players they drafted longer than they probably should.

When we look at Velus Jones’ production over the nine games he has played this season, it is far from exciting. The rookie has one touchdown on the season and three fumbles. The fumbles have been the main issue. He muffed two punts while only seeing consistent playing time on special teams. One directly cost the Bears the win in a 12-7 loss to the Commanders. He fumbled for the third time last week vs the Eagles and the play could have also been one reason the team lost 25-20.

Matt Eberflus did not sound happy when discussing the fumble last week. Could the fumbling problem lead to the team already deciding to cut ties with their third-round pick? They already made him a healthy scratch earlier in the year. This regime doesn’t seem afraid to admit a mistake and move on from it early on — I can respect that. Velus Jones hasn’t been able to help at all on offense. He has a 57.1% catch rate. He had one big drop earlier in the year too.

Outside of his speed, nothing makes him stand out in a positive light. As Ryan Poles tries to surround Justin Fields with more talent, Velus Jones could be an odd man out at the wide receiver position and could be a surprise cut.