Bears sign Devante Bond to the active roster, make a practice squad move

With the Roquan Smith to injured reserve transaction now official, the Chicago Bears have announced they they have signed linebacker Devante Bond to take his place on the 53-man roster. Bond (6’1, 236”) was original a sixth-round pick in the 2017 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after playing his college ball at Oklahoma.

The 26-year old Bond played in four games this year for the Bucs where he made 3 tackles, before being released on October 15. He only played 31 snaps on defense this year, but 72 on special teams. During the first two years of his career he had six starts in 25 games, and he played in over half of their snaps on special teams. With Kevin Pierre-Lewis expected to start for the Bears now, they’ll need Bond to fill his role in the third phase.

During his time as a free agent, Bond was suspended four weeks by the league for violating the performance-enhancing drugs policy, but he was reinstated on November 12.

The Bears also announced they released linebacker Dewayne Hendrix from their practice squad and signed defensive back Xavier Crawford to take his place. Crawford (5’11”, 187) was a sixth-round pick of the Houston Texans this year after playing corner at Central Michigan, and he also spent some time on the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad.