It seems the Chicago Bears did a hell of a job building their practice squad with quality reserves. Why? It seems other teams didn’t hesitate to raid for help on their own rosters. On a wild Tuesday that already featured a boatload of drama with Allen Robinson, the Bears learned they’d be losing not one but two players of their practice squad.
The first was veteran guard Jamon Brown. They hoped he’d make nice depth behind Germain Ifedi and James Daniels. Instead the Philadelphia Eagles, fresh off allowing eight sacks on opening day, swiftly scooped him up to provide a boost to their beleaguered offensive line. Just a few minutes later it was revealed that another NFC East team jumped in.
The Dallas Cowboys are having huge problems at linebacker after Leighton Vander Esche went down with a collarbone injury. So in hopes of finding more depth, they grabbed undrafted rookie Rashad Smith off the Bears’ squad. Smith reportedly had a strong training camp and just missed making the final roster.
Cowboys elected not to promote LB Francis Bernard from practice squad, signing LB Rashad Smith off Bears’ PS instead. But they’ll be protecting Bernard for a second straight week. No other team can sign him. This was only way Dallas could have both Bernard and Smith in building.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 15, 2020
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#Eagles are signing veteran G Jamon Brown from #Bears practice squad. https://t.co/CstsqqkS4u
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) September 15, 2020
Chicago Bears will have to seek out replacements
GM Ryan Pace is no stranger to scenarios like this. Finding decent talent in the bargain bin was one of his biggest strengths as a scout. That hasn’t changed since joining the Bears. This is another case where he’ll have to be proactive in finding replacements. The good news is there are some possible options out there who could help.
Veteran guard Ronald Leary is still available. While not the player he was a few years ago, he’s still serviceable enough to be useful as a backup. The same goes for Josh Kline and Eric Kush. As for linebackers? Todd Davis is still available. He has loads of experience. Wesley Woodyard, Deone Buccanon, and Preston Brown are also names worth watching.