Bears' Rookie Jersey Numbers Include Chicago Reusing a Franchise Legend's Digits

The Bears unveiled the jersey numbers for their draft picks on Friday and the team is giving one of them the digits of one of its franchise legends.

Iowa offensive lineman Logan Jones. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With rookie minicamp starting on Friday, the Chicago Bears have made multiple announcements pertaining to their first-year players.

One of those announcements were jersey numbers for the team's seven draft picks.

Up until this point, we only had the digits for first-round pick Dillon Thieneman, who will wear No. 31, which was previously worn by safety Kevin Byard, who left in free agency to the New England Patriots.

Here's the full list of draft pick jersey numbers, including the digits of center Logan Jones, who is wearing Brian Urlacher's number.

S Dillon Thieneman: 31
C Logan Jones: 54
WR Zavion Thomas: 81
TE Sam Roush: 87
CB Malik Muhammad: 24
LB Kayshaun Elliott: 49
DL Jordan van den Berg: 96

If Jones ends up keeping that number, he will be the first Bears player to wear it since Urlacher left, according to Pro Football Reference.

It is important to note, though, that the jersey numbers listed here are not completely official yet, Adam Jahns of CHGO Bears said.

A slew of signings

Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Keyshaun Elliott. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Bears announced a bunch of rookie signings on Friday that included four of the team's seven draft picks.

Wide receiver Zavion Thomas, cornerback Malik Muhammad, linebacker Keyshaun Elliott and defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg all signed their rookies contracts. That leaves safety Dillon Thieneman, center Logan Jones and tight end Sam Rough as Chicago's unsigned draft picks.

We wouldn't read into those three players not signing at all. It's still very early in the process and that will not prevent them from taking part in rookie minicamp this weekend.

Chicago also unveiled its list of undrafted free agent signings, of which there were 13. Here's a look at that group:

OL Caden Barnett, Wyoming
RB Coleman Bennett, Kennesaw State
DB KC Eziomume, Tulane
LS Beau Gardner, Georgia
WR Omari Kelly, Michigan State
C Jaren Kump, Utah
TE Hayden Large, Iowa
DT Jayden Loving, Wake Forest
QB Miller Moss, Louisville
OL Mason Murphy, Auburn
DB Skyler Thomas, Oregon State
PK Gabriel Plascencia, San Diego State
WR Squirrel White, Florida State

Among the group of 13 UDFAs, there are three of them who signed a significant contract.

That list includes offensive lineman Caden Barnett, defensive lineman Jayden Loving and defensive back Skyler Thomas. We would keep an eye on those players specifically because their contracts mean Chicago thinks highly of them.

Barnett is a versatile offensive lineman who can play at both guard and tackle. Loving is an uber-athletic interior defender who scored an astounding 9.93 Relative Athletic Score (RAS). Thomas offers a bit of versatility, as he has experience playing at both safety spots and in the slot.

Chad Reuter of NFL.com had six of the Bears undrafted free agents ranked among the best at each position. Barnett, Loving and Thomas made the list, as did Gardner, Moss and Kump.