Bears coach Matt Nagy painted a positive picture about Eddie Goldman's return for training camp after he missed minicamp but they've taken action to cover themselves.
The team signed former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Mike Pennel, who can play nose tackle in a 3-4.
They also signed a pair of former Michigan tight ends, including one who has played the position in the NFL.
Pennel is 6-foot-4, 330 pounds and has played defensive end but has the size to be at the nose in a 3-4. The 30-year-old is in his eighth season after entering the NFL in 2014 as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers. Pennel played for the Packers three years, the New York Jets two years and the Chiefs the last two years. Always a backup in his career, Pennel has 91 games played and 16 starts. He was on the field for at least 27% of his team's defensive snaps four times with a high of 32% for the Jets in 2018.
The two former Michigan players who signed are tight end Jake Butt and tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. Wheatley signed following a stint in The Spring League. He is now an offensive tackle and not a tight end.
Butt is a tight end with a history of knee problems and has played eight games and made four starts for the Denver Broncos since coming into the NFL in 2017. In 2018 and 2020 he made 10 catches for 90 yards.
Butt has had three torn ACLs, the last one coming to his left knee in September of 2018. He couldn't play in 2019 due to complications from the 2018 injury.
The Broncos placed Butt on injured reserve last year after Week 5 due to a hamstring injury. He returned from IR for the final week of the season but was not active.
Butt suffered a torn ACL in the Orange Bowl game after his 2016 season at Michigan and was put on the physically unable to perform list in Denver for 2017. For the Wolverines, he made 138 receptions for 1,646 yards and 11 touchdowns in four seasons and 43 games.
The Bears have a need for a third tight end, and had cut project tight end Darion Clark before minicamp.
To make room for those players on the roster, the Bears released defensive linemen Thomas Schaffer and Gunnar Vogel.
Schaffer is the former Lake Forest Academy player from Austria the team signed as an undrafted free agent. Vogel played at Northwestern.
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