Bears sign defensive back Marqui Christian, waive kicker Ramiz Ahmed

The Bears have signed defensive back Marqui Christian, ESPN’s Turron Davenport reported on Tuesday. As a corresponding move to get the roster back down to the required 80 players, the team has waived kicker Ramiz Ahmed.

Christian, who turns 26 in October, was a 2016 fifth-round pick out of Midwestern State by the Arizona Cardinals. While he was waived by the team before he could ever play a game with them, he was signed by the Los Angeles Rams soon after. He proceeded to play four seasons with the Rams, starting in one game in 2019. Though primarily a strong safety, he also has experience as a nickelback and on special teams. He had played a solid role for the Rams over the past two seasons, tallying 72 tackles in that span and playing on at least 34 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and 75 percent on special teams snaps in each of those years.

The incoming five-year veteran almost signed with the Jets back in March, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. He was suspended back in June for the first two games of the 2020 season for an unspecified reason.

With safety Jordan Lucas opting out of the season due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bears have added a potential replacement on the bench and as a special teams ace in Christian. While unknown how big of a role he will play for Chicago, he should have a spot on the active roster if all goes well.