Chicago Bears Practice Squad Tracker: Every Rumored and Confirmed Signing

The Chicago Bears' initial 53-man roster has been finalized, but there is still a ton of work to do moving forward.

Not only will the Bears navigate the waiver wire on Monday, with players being awarded around 1 p.m. ET, Chicago will also begin putting together its practice squad, a process that will probably start following the waiver period.

The Bears can actually begin signing players to the practice squad before then, though, as vested veterans (four or more accrued seasons) aren't subject to waivers and can be signed to the practice squad immediately.

Make sure to follow our tracker for all of the latest rumored and confirmed practice squad signings the Bears make. We've also included some predictions for how we think Chicago's practice squad will shake out.

Chicago Bears practice squad tracker

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson. — Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson stands on the sidelines during the second half in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

OT Christian Jones (source): The first reported outside signing for the Bears' practice squad, Jones was a fifth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2024. He has just four games played (one start) in two seasons and 70 snaps at right tackle.

WR Scotty Miller (source): Miller failed to show enough to force the Bears to keep a sixth receiver. With a young receivers room, Miller offers a veteran insurance policy on the practice squad.

G Caden Barnett (source): Reports suggested after he was cut that the Bears wanted to bring Barnett back — and they got their guy. The Wyoming product, who received the biggest guarantee among Bears UDFAs, offers guard/tackle versatility.

RB Salvon Ahmed (source): The Bears opted to bring Ahmed back to the practice squad on the heels of a strong preseason performance. He stands a good chance to be called up on gameday if injuries strike at the position.

RB Zavier Scott (source): Scott joins the Bears from their rivals in Minnesota. The Vikings hoped the former undrafted free agent would re-join their practice squad, but he instead opted to land in Chicago.

TE Stephen Carlson (source): Carlson rejoins the Bears' practice squad, which is where he's been since the 2023 season. Although he hasn't seen any regular season action since 2020, he'd be a dependable depth option if called up.

DE Marcus Davenport (source): Davenport's time with the Bears, if you can even call it that, has been a tad strange since he hasn't even practiced with the team. But stashing him on the practice squad makes sense given the Bears' lack of proven ability along the defensive line.

WR Kaden Davis (source): Many fans and analysts expected Davis to make the roster after a sensational preseason, but he lands on the practice squad instead. A good depth piece for the Bears should they need a temporary replacement midseason.

G Kyle Hergel (source): You can never have too much offensive line depth in the NFL. Hergel was the third overall pick in the 2024 CFL draft, but went undrafted in the NFL the same year. He joined the Bears' practice squad in November and lands back there.

WR J.P. Richardson (source): Richardson cooled off a bit from his sensational rookie training camp performance last year, but he remains a valuable depth option. Locking him into the practice squad is a smart move.

DB Marlen Sewell (source): The undrafted rookie out of Vanderbilt may not have made the 53-man roster, but given the Bears' injury woes in the secondary, there's a not insignificant chance that he'll get some regular season playing time in 2026.

DB Deantre Prince (source): A 2024 fifth-round pick, Prince was waived by the Jaguars in 2025. He spent a good amount of time with the UFL's Louisville Kings in 2026 but was released halfway through the season in a surprising roster move.

LB Wayne Matthews III (source): Matthews spent three years with Old Dominion to start his college career, then transferred to Michigan State for his final two seasons. The Bears are a bit thin at linebacker right now, so this practice squad signing makes sense.

TE Qadir Ismail (source): Ismail first signed with the Bears' practice squad last November, a month after being waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He participated all throughout training camp and now lands back on the practice squad, according to Courtney Cronin.

Chicago Bears practice squad prediction

Chicago Bears running back Salvon Ahmed. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Here's how we project the practice squad to go:

RB Salvon Ahmed
WR Scotty Miller
WR Maurice Alexander
TE Stephen Carlson
TE Qadir Ismail
OL Caden Barnett
OL Jaren Kump
OL Kyle Hergel
DL James Lynch
DL Marcus Davenport
LB Jack Sanborn
CB Terell Smith
S Anthony Johnson
Three outside signings

A total of 13 of the 16 players listed were on the Bears' offseason roster. While that might be shooting a bit high, we know that teams tend to fill their practice squad mostly with players who were on the offseason roster before cuts.

Ahmed was one of the bigger standouts throughout the offseason and adding him to the practice squad gives Chicago a better runner than Roschon Johnson to turn to.

Keeping Miller gives the Bears a veteran option for what is a wide receivers room that lacks experience. Alexander had a strong enough offseason that he's worth keeping around.

With the Bears set to run a lot of two and three tight end sets, it makes sense to keep a pair of tight ends on the practice squad. Nikola Kalinic would have been one of our top choices before he landed on injured reserve. That opens the door for the Carlson-Ismail pairing.

Barnett was a highly-paid undrafted free-agent signing, so the Bears are probably interested in keeping him around. Kump is another young lineman who should get a shot and Hergel is someone who offers at least a bit of NFL experience.

Kump and Barnett in particular offer some versatility, as Barnett can play at guard and tackle and Kump played at all five spots upfront during his college career.

With how shaky things are along the defensive line, especially in the wake of the Gervon Dexter trade, we see at least two linemen being kept on the practice squad.

Davenport didn't stick because he couldn't get himself ramped up in time to get on the practice field before cuts. We would expect the Bears to continue the relationship on the practice squad.

We actually thought Lynch played well enough to make the 53-man roster, and perhaps he will be added to the group at some point soon. For now, he's one of the top candidates to be on Chicago's practice squad.

Sanborn is the logical choice to keep on the practice squad at linebacker. Chicago needs at least one given the fact that rookie Keyshaun Elliott is one injury away from seeing a significant role on defense, which is troubling after he missed so much practice time this offseason.

In the secondary, we could see the Bears double-dipping at one or both positions given the injury situations with Coby Bryant, Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Jones.

Smith had an unfortunate bout with injury during the offseason, which hurt his cause to make the cut, but we believe Chicago should continue that relationship if Smith is willing to.

Johnson offers versatility with experience playing snaps at both safety and slot cornerback, so he's a good bet if he can clear waivers. At least two of the three outside signings should be secondary-related.

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