Bear Digest

Bears Trade for Defensive Tackle and Waive Former Illini Player

Browns defensive lineman Chris Williams cost the Bears a sixth-round pick in a trade, and brings along one season experience in their coach's system.
Gene Chamberlain|
Former Browns defensive tackle Chris Williams is now with the Bears.
Former Browns defensive tackle Chris Williams is now with the Bears. | Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

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Chicago Bears

 Bears GM Ryan Poles wasted no time adding to the team's defensive tackle group after the injury of Zacch Pickens.

It may say something about the severity of Pickens' injury.

They traded a sixth-round pick on Saturday to the Cleveland Browns for defensive tackle Chris Williams. The Bears also get a seventh-round Cleveland pick in the deal.

They had three sixth-round picks, one a conditional pick from the trade of Justin Fields. They traded one of those Friday for Seattle edge rusher Darrell Taylor.

To make room on the roster they waived former Illinois defensive tackle Keith Randolph Jr. and also defensive back Douglas Coleman III, who was carted off the field with an injury Thursday but was reported by coach Matt Eberflus to be fine after being released from the hospital.

The one they traded to Cleveland is the pick they obtained from Miami in exchange for wide receiver Chase Claypool. So they still have one sixth-round pick left.

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A 6-foot-3, 302-pound undrafted player from Wagner, Williams has been in the league since 2021. He has played in 13 games without starting and has six tackles.

Williams is familiar to coach Matt Eberflus because his 13 games came for Indianapolis, the first eight coming in 2021 when the current Bears coach was defensive coordinator for the Colts. He was put on the Chiefs practice squad last year after being waived by the Colts in the 2023 offseason, but then was released a day later and Cleveland signed him to its practice squad in December.

Williams was stuck in a situation where he would have had a hard time getting on the field. He was behind Dalvin Tomlinson, Shelby Harris, Quinton Jefferson and veteran Maurice Hurst on the Cleveland depth chart.

This indicates the Bears are not entirely satisfied with the play of their young, undrafted defensive tackles like Michael Dwumfour. The Bears have veteran Byron Cowart as a backup behind starting nose tackle Andrew Billings but after Pickens' injury their depth chart behind Gervon Dexter was thin.

They haven't reported the severity or nature of Pickens' injury, which was suffered at practice prior to the Kansas City game.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.