Grading the Chicago Bears’ Final 53-Man Roster
Published by Matt Eurich on August 31, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Following their 33-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns Thursday night, the Chicago Bears had to decide which 22 players they needed to cut in order to reduce their roster to 53 players by the NFL deadline on Saturday.
The first wave of cuts came on Friday, with the team waiving running back Jordan Lynch and releasing kick returner Armanti Edwards, tight end Jeron Mastrud, tackle Dennis Roland and guard Robert Turner, via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:
#Bears announce first cuts today: Waive Jordan Lynch; Release Armanti Edwards, Jeron Mastrud, Dennis Roland, Robert Turner.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) August 29, 2014
According to ChicagoBears.com, the team made their final 17 cuts on Saturday, waiving wide receivers Chris Williams, Dale Moss and Josh Bellamy; defensive tackles Brandon Dunn, Tracy Robertson and Lee Pegues; center Taylor Boggs; linebackers Jerry Franklin and DeDe Lattimore; guard Ryan Groy; and cornerbacks C.J. Wilson and Al Louis-Jean.
In addition to waiving those 12 players, the team also released cornerback Kelvin Hayden, tackle Eben Britton, defensive end Austen Lane and waived safety M.D. Jennings with an injury settlement.
Even with the roster set at 53 players, expect general manager Phil Emery to continue to add and subtract players before the team’s Week 1 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
Now that the majority of the roster is set in place, we can put a grade on each position heading into the regular season.
Grades were based on whether the position has been upgraded from last season, injuries at the position and how well the group performed during training camp and the preseason.
Let’s take a look.
