Bears Add Former Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te'o

The Bears have added the backup inside linebacker experience they've seemed to lack all year by signing former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o to the practice squad.

They had the 6-foot-1, 241-pound Te'o at Halas Hall for a tryout last week.

A second-round pick and 38th overall by the Chargers in 2013, Te'o suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in 2016 after becoming a Chargers starter and was allowed to leave in free agency. He signed on for two years and $5 million with the New Orleans Saints but his stay in New Orleans with the former team of Bears GM Ryan Pace was plagued by injuries. He suffered a knee injury and played only five games in 2018 after he had been a starter at middle linebacker in 2017.

When Te'o's contract expired in 2019, he went unsigned until late in the year and the Saints brought him back for three games when injuries hit their defensive lineup.

In his best season, 2015 with the Chargers, Te'o had 83 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and two passes defensed. In 2017, his last year as a starter, Te'o had a career-high seven tackles for loss for the Saints and had three passes defensed.

The Bears have been without much experience at the backup inside linebacker position. They've had 2018 fourth-round draft pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe and undrafted free agent Josh Woods as backups to Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan, but Iyiegbuniwe has played only 31 snaps on defense since coming to the league and Woods has never played a defensive snap.

They've had former Tampa Bay linebacker Devante Bond on and off of the roster and practice squad at times this year, too, but he suffered a quad injury and went on the practice squad injury list last week.

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