The Chicago Bears have finalized their initial 53-man roster following a busy day of roster cuts, which featured some notable decisions by general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson.
As the Bears assembled their roster, there were some difficult decisions that had to be made, as well as strategic ones given certain injury designations and how Johnson, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower want their units to operate. But it's also worth noting that changes will be made between now and when waiver claims are announced Monday afternoon.
Let's recap a busy cutdown day for the Bears:
Bears trade Gervon Dexter to Falcons
The Bears kicked off roster cutdown day with a big trade, sending former second-round defensive tackle Gervon Dexter
to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a fifth-round pick and cornerback Clark Phillips III. Dexter reunites with former Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, who was hired as the Falcons general manager this offseason. Following the emergence of sixth-round rookie Jordan van den Berg, as well as undrafted rookie Jayden Loving and veteran Kentavius Street, Chicago felt comfortable enough to move on from Dexter, who likely wasn't going to get a second contract with the Bears.
Cuts
Waived: WR Maurice Alexander, OL Kiran Amegadjie, OL Caden Barnett, WR Kaden Davis, LB Antonio Grier, OL Kyle Hergel, TE Qadir Ismail, DB Anthony Johnson, WR Omari Kelly, OL Jaren Kump, DL Jeremiah Martin, LB Wayne Matthews III, QB Miller Moss, OL Mason Murphy, DB Deantre Prince, WR JP Richardson, DB Marlen Sewell, DB Terell Smith, DB William Wright
Released: RB Salvon Ahmed, TE Stephen Carlson, DL Marcus Davenport, OL Wesley French, DL James Lynch, WR Scotty Miller, LB Jon Rhattigan, LB Jack Sanborn
Waived with an Injury Designation: DB Beanie Bishop, LB Ruben Hyppolite II, DB Dontae Manning
Released the following player with an Injury Settlement: OL Jedrick Wills Jr.
Kyler Gordon, Noah Sewell, Shemar Turner to the PUP list
Chicago placed cornerback Kyler Gordon, linebacker Noah Sewell and defensive tackle Shemar Turner on the physically unable to perform list to start the 2026 regular season. They will all miss at least the first four games of the season. It's a devastating blow for the Bears' secondary with Gordon still sidelined with a calf injury that held him out the entire summer. Now, Chicago must find his replacement at nickel.
Injured reserve moves
The Bears placed running back Brittain Brown, linebacker Tony Field, defensive back Jaylon Jones and wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III on injured reserve.
Bears' initial 53-man roster
Here's a look at the Bears' initial 53-man roster after roster cutdown day, which is expected to undergo further changes on Monday.
Initial roster takeaways
Check out our instant takeaways from the Bears' initial 53-man roster, which includes the need for a linebacker, plenty of rookies, moving on from former prevalent draft picks and what's next.
What's next
The Bears will be able to start assembling their 16-player practice squad after the waiver claim deadline at 11 a.m. CT. We'll also learn if Chicago was able to land any of the waiver claims they made from the large pool of waived players during Sunday's cuts. The Bears will then make additional changes to their roster, which should include Coby Bryant and Hayden Large moving to injured reserve to free up spots.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Recapping the Chicago Bears' busy day of roster changes
