Reviewing 4 moves Chicago Bears made after initial 53-man roster was set

3. Chicago Bears claim Quindell Johnson, waive A.J. Thomas

Qundell Johnson was a UDFA from Memphis. It appears the Chicago Bears feel they missed out on him in the draft process and want to take advantage. A.J. Thomas getting released was the correlating move, so it is a one-for-one swap of safeties. When you think about it, the Chicago Bears drafted Kendall Williamson in round seven with the plans of him beating out Thomas this summer.

That simply did not happen as Thomas was much better. Perhaps the Chicago bears were debating both Johnson and Williamson with that draft pick. When they drafted Williamson, they did not prioritize Johnson in the UDFA process. However, early into camp they may have realized that they mad a mistake.

Williamson struggled, and they must have liked what they saw from Johnson. They envision the chances of them drafting Johnson instead, and he beat out Thomas. So, they made that vision a reality and turned the coin flip the other way.

It does show that they are admitting they made a mistake on Williamson considering someone they did not draft made the roster over someone they did. Still, it is better to admit defeat early and grow from it than to let it keep haunting you.