The Bears have yet to begin making mass cuts in an effort to move towards the eventual 53-man roster, instead opting to look at a few bigger names that should affect how the rest of the roster plays out.
According to Bears senior writer Larry Mayer, the Bears released quarterback P.J. Walker and waived offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood while waiving guard Gabriel Houy with an injury designation.
The most notable departure here is Leatherwood, who has consistently slotted in as the team’s backup to Teven Jenkins, whose struggles to stay on the field have only continued this offseason. Without Jenkins or Leatherwood, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reports that Cody Whitehair would be the one filling Jenkins’ spot. If that’s the case, the Bears would then need to turn to Lucas Patrick to cover Whitehair’s starting center role.
Walker, a former backup quarterback who started seven games for the Panthers over the past three years, apparently failed to do enough to stay in the running for the backup job behind Justin Fields. That leaves the Bears with Nathan Peterman and undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent as the team’s reserve options behind Fields
Another notable part of this transaction is the money that gets left on the table by Chicago here. Leatherwood reportedly had $4.59M of guarantees remaining on his deal, while the money lost by releasing Walker brings that total up to around $7M in dead money.
Second-year general manager Ryan Poles is making it clear that money owed on a contract isn’t going to determine roster spots for this year’s squad.
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