Getty Ledarius Mack is officially a free agent.
The Chicago Bears have removed Ledarius Mack from the injured reserve list with an injury settlement, according to reporter Aaron Wilson.
The Bears waived Khalil Mack’s younger brother last week, and after he cleared waivers, he was placed on injured reserve, again reverting back to the Bears. Now, the younger Mack has been given an injury settlement, according to Wilson, and just became an available free agent currently available on the market. The team has yet to announce the move officially.
The Bears waived Mack along with wide receiver Michael Joseph on August 17, and after nearly a week, mack is free to sign anywhere.
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What Was the Week-Long Stint on IR About?
Why did it take a full week for Mack’s release to happen?
Per NJ.com, “injured non-vested players must be placed on waivers through the waived/injured designation before being placed on injured reserve. This prevents teams from stashing young players on injured reserve. Once a waived/injured player clears waivers, he reverts to the team’s IR. … After a player is waived/injured, the player and the team have five days to agree to an injury settlement. An injury settlement is designed for a team to pay the player for the time he is expected to miss with the injury. If a settlement is reached, the player becomes a free agent and can sign with another team immediately.”
This is exactly what happened with Mack. It hasn’t been revealed what type of injury led to the injury settlement, but he has officially become available.
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Ledarius Has Been Learning & Working Closely With Khalil
The Bears signed Ledarius as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Buffalo last year. He spent the entire season on the practice squad, and stayed on in January. The younger Mack is a bit undersized for a pass rusher at 6’1 and 240 pounds, but he has spent over a year training and learning next to one of the most dominant pass rushers in the NFL, so he does have some intriguing aspects.
“He just honestly he has shown me what hard work is, and never shy away from it, always embrace it,” Ledarius said about working alongside his big brother, via Sports Illustrated.
“There are going to be those days when you’re going to hit a wall. But he has showed me how to work through those things. He just gave me that mentality of just break through every door—every-door mentality. That’s just how I look at it, from that standpoint.”
“He’s truly that light,” Ledarius added, in reference to Khalil. “Definitely has helped me out through my whole football experience. It’s not just coming here. He has always been involved in some type of way. So, I can’t thank him enough and it’s just a blessing.”
The younger Mack played college ball for two years, playing in 19 games. In that span, he amassed 40 total tackles (13.5 for loss), 9.0 sacks (7.0 of which came his senior year), two fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles. He has yet to play in an NFL game.
Now, Ledarius is on the market again, and it will be interesting to see if any of the 31 other teams show an interest in his potential. It’s also possible the Bears will bring him back for another stint on the practice squad.
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