Chicago Bears 53-man roster prediction

NFL teams need to trim their offseason rosters to 53 players by August 29 at 3:00 p.m. (CT), which is three days removed from the Chicago Bears preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills. All players released with less than four accrued seasons in the league will pass through waivers, and the Bears hold the top spot to claim waived players. Vested veterans will not have to pass through waivers and will be immediately allowed to sign where they please.

As they did a year ago, I would expect the Bears to claim a handful of young players and possibly add a veteran or two, so the initial 53-man roster they announce will surely change.

Here’s my prediction on what the Bears will open up with on the 53-man roster.

Offense (26)

Quarterback (3): Justin Fields, P.J. Walker, Tyson Bagent

Bagent moving up the depth chart and getting reps with the ones at Monday’s practice shows how much the coaching staff already trusts him. I would not be surprised to see Nathan Peterman instead of Walker.

Running back (5): Khalil Herbert, D’Onta Foreman, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Khari Blasingame (FB)

The Bears are going to attack defenses with fresh backs all game.

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Wide receiver (6): D.J. Moore, Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney, Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr., Equanimeous St. Brown

Dante Pettis and Daurice Fountain could push Jones and St. Brown off the roster with a strong final week.

Tight end (3): Cole Kmet, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis

The only no-brainer position group on the team.

Offensive line (9): Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair, Nate Davis, Darnell Wright, Ja’Tyre Carter, Lucas Patrick, Larry Borom, Alex Leatherwood

With Jenkins’ injury, the Bears may be forced to keep Leatherwood, although I could see them signing a vet o-lineman after cuts or claiming a guy off waivers and letting Leatherwood go.

Defense (24)

Linebacker (5): Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Jack Sanborn, Noah Sewell, Mykal Walker

I expect the Bears to have a few linebackers make the practice squad. Also with the way the Bears have added so many bodies to this position in the last few weeks, there could be a waiver wire addition here.

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Defensive end (6): Yannick Ngakoue, DeMarcus Walker, Trevis Gipson, Terrell Lewis, Dominique Robinson, Rasheem Green

Green hasn’t done much in the preseason, but the Bears had him starting both games. Plus, he can kick inside and play some DT.

Defensive tackle (4): Justin Jones, Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter, Zacch Pickens

Besides Green, Walker also can play inside, so just keeping four at DT seems right.

Safety (4): Eddie Jackson, Jaquan Brisker, Elijah Hicks, A.J. Thomas

Seeing them only carry three here with a sixth at cornerback would not surprise me.

Corner (5): Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell

Jaylon Jones, Greg Stroman Jr., and Michael Ojemudia are all pushing for a sixth spot.

Special Teams (3)

Long snapper: Patrick Scales

Kicker: Cairo Santos

Punter: Trenton Gill

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