Bears making moves to add depth on offensive line, defense
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Bears were making moves a day after cutting players to get down to 53 men.
One of the new faces on the team was Orland Park native Dan Feeney, whom the Bears got in a trade from Miami to shore up the offensive line depth. The Bears also claimed former Indianapolis Colts defensive end Khalid Kareem and safety Quindell Johnson off waivers while they're also bringing in receiver and returner Trent Taylor.
CBS 2's Matt Zahn had the latest on a team that's suddenly coming together.
Newly signed offensive lineman Dan Feeney joined a suddenly much healthier offensive line group, with Nate Davis, Darnell Wright, and Lucas Patrick all returning to practice. Wide receiver Chase Claypool was also back, as all the work Ryan Poles did this offseason finally seemed to be coming together.
"We've made really good progress," Poles said. "That's kind of how I can answer it. We're in a good place, in a much better place than we were last year. I feel like we've been able to move the needle and be in a position to go after our goals."
Some of the best work Poles and his staff did included finding quarterback Tyson Bagent. The undrafted free agent from Division II Shepherd always believed he could overcome the long odds to make an NFL team.
"I kind of already felt that I could show everybody that I did belong," Bagent said. "I was watching some old Hard Knocks videos. I was watching some video about NBA players making the team and they talk about what the statistics are of people that actually make it, but they don't take into account what if this guy wakes up early and goes and works hard every day? What if this guy is over 6 foot? What if this guy runs at this speed? Or can anticipate this or has a high IQ? So you take all those things and you kind of put them in a pot and I felt like I had a lot of those attributes in that pot."
Poles, like head coach Matt Eberflus, wasn't ready to declare Bagent their official backup to Fields, and he said they are hoping to still bring back Nathan Peterman either to the practice squad or the 53-man roster.