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Chicago Bears waive Draughn, Williams, Mulligan; elevate Frey, Ross to 53-man roster

The Chicago Bears continue to make roster moves, shoring up the cornerback and kickoff returner positions with additions from the practice squad.

By Spongie
USA TODAY Sports

Phil Emery is a busy, busy man.  Ahead of the road game to open the San Francisco 49ers' brand new stadium at the weekend, he cut three players (Kelvin Hayden, Tony Fiammetta, David Fales) in order to free up roster spots for three depth additions from the practice squad (Chris Williams, Josh Bellamy, Taylor Boggs). Yesterday he placed Charles Tillman on season-ending IR, and re-signed Fiametta while adding Fales to the practice squad.

The Chicago Bears' general manager wasn't finished with his roster moves, with the team just announcing:

Isaiah Frey's re-signing fulfills a necessity as the Bears are thin at corner with Tillman on IR; the third-year player started in the slot corner position last season after Hayden was lost for the year, though his failure to make any splash plays at the position was a disappointment to the coaches.  It remains to be seen what role he will assume on the defense, but he should be able to step in after having been out with a hamstring injury for the second half of training camp.

Shaun Draughn, despite being the only one of Matt Forte's backups at the running back position with any prior NFL experience, did not cover himself in glory on Sunday on special teams.  Matthew Mulligan, as a blocking TE, was more likely than not made expendable by the re-signings of Fiammetta and Eben Britton.

Chris Williams saw limited action in Sunday's game and the Bears seem to have decided to roll the die on WR / KR Rashad Ross, an undrafted free agent out of Arizona State University who spent last season on the Titans' and Chiefs' practice squads, and who was waived by Washington during last month's roster cutdowns despite averaging 32.0 yards on four kickoff returns.  The Bears were not enthused by Senorise Perry's decision-making in the kickoff return game, and it seems as if Ross will get an opportunity to grab the role.

Because it's unlikely many of us know anything about him, here's a highlight video from Ross' college career at ASU:

In other roster news,

That open spot on the 53-man roster means there's at least one more move left to come, and WCG will keep you posted when it happens.  What are your thoughts on the latest roster moves?

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