Atlanta Falcons to sign Travis Bell off the Chicago Bears practice squad

According to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Atlanta Falcons are signing defensive tackle Travis Bell off the Chicago Bears practice squad. Bell was a seventh-round pick of the Bears this year from Kennesaw State.

Neither Atlanta nor the Bears have announced this transaction, but as a practice squadder, Bell is free to sign with any team’s active roster. This move will likely become official on Wednesday when it comes across the NFL’s transaction wire.

Update: This transaction is now official.

In three preseason games for Chicago, Bell had six tackles and a half a sack, but he was waived when the Bears cut their roster down to 53 players for the regular season. Chicago signed him to their practice squad after he cleared waivers, and he’s been there since.

“This is probably one of my favorite human beings,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said about Bell after the draft. “He is a special person. I didn’t want him to leave after his 30 visit, and he didn’t want to leave, either. There’s something different about this guy. He is passionate about the game.”

Bell is an athletic but raw prospect out of the FCS school in Kennesaw, Georgia, and now he’ll get to play just about a two-hour drive from his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.

In case you missed it, there were a few Bears’ moves that did come across today’s wire. The trade for Montez Sweat led to Chicago waiving defensive Khalid Kareem, and they also released cornerback Joejuan Williams from the practice squad.