Bears' Ben Johnson Speaks on the Mystery Behind Zah Frazier's Release

On Friday, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson fielded a question on the team waiving cornerback and 2025 fifth-round pick Zah Frazier.

UTSA defensive back Zah Frazier. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

One day after the Chicago Bears decided to part ways with 2025 fifth-round pick and cornerback Zah Frazier, head coach Ben Johnson addressed the topic on Friday.

The Bears announced they waived Frazier on Thursday after his one season with the team. Of course, Frazier did not play at all in 2025 due to a personal reason, the specifics of which we don't have after all this time.

On the first day of rookie minicamp on Friday, Johnson was asked about Frazier but did not go into specifics about what exactly was behind his release or personal issue.

"Zah's a guy we've had here for over a year," Johnson said. "When we're looking at the roster, where we're at, where he's at, it was time to part ways."

What happened to Zah Frazier?

Chicago Bears defensive backs Devin Kirkwood (38) and Zah Frazier (20). | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Again, we don't have a concrete answer.

Frazier took part in rookie minicamp last year and that was the last we saw him. He was placed on the NFI list at final cuts and was never spotted at practice again the rest of the season.

"He had a situation that presented itself in a category that I would say 'personal,'" general manager Ryan Poles said last August. "As we dug into it, tried to help him out, it revealed itself as something that happened before he got here. So credit to our staff finding the root cause of what he was going through."

It was believed Frazier would be back this year, though, and that we might see him as early as rookie minicamp this week after he posted in January that he was "medically cleared," although Frazier didn't say what he was cleared from.

When asked about Frazier in the same month, general manager Ryan Poles didn't mince words and made it quite clear the UTSA product had a "mountain to climb" to contribute in his second season.

“He needed to play,” Poles said.

One less competitor

Texas defensive back Malik Muhammad. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Bears are set to have a competition at one boundary cornerback spot this offseason.

Frazier was often mentioned as someone who could take part in that competition, which will be headlined by Tyrique Stevenson and fourth-round pick Malik Muhammad.

But, truth be told, expecting Frazier to even be considered was expecting too much given the mysterious circumstances surrounding his absence last season.

And we can now chalk Frazier up as just the latest draft bust from Poles during his tenure as Bears general manager.