Getty Former Bears linebacker Nicholas Morrow is signing with the Eagles for the 2023 season.
Nicholas Morrow, one of the Chicago Bears’ top remaining 2023 free agents, has found a new home with the Philadelphia Eagles for next season.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman announced Tuesday, March 21 that the team had signed a one-year contract with former Bears starting linebacker Nicholas Morrow. The 27-year-old led the Bears with 116 total tackles and 11 tackles for loss in 2022 and started in all 17 games at either the MIKE or WILL spots in their 4-3 defensive scheme.
Morrow’s chances of getting a new contract with the Bears essentially evaporated on the first day of free agency when Chicago signed linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards — a former Eagles standout — to multi-year deals. Both are younger, better linebackers than Morrow has been over his first five seasons and offer the Bears a potent starting combination when paired with 2022 rookie starter Jack Sanborn.
Now, Morrow will move on to his third team after spending his first four seasons (62 games, 29 starts) with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Bears Free Agent LB Matthew Adams Also Get Signed
Morrow wasn’t the only former Bears inside linebacker to find a new team on Tuesday. The Browns also announced they have signed Matthew Adams — who played 10 games and made three starts in his lone season with Chicago — to a one-year contract for 2023.
Adams was originally a sixth-round pick for the Indianapolis Colts in 2018 and had some prior experience with head coach Matt Eberflus when he joined the Bears’ roster during the 2022 offseason, but he ended up being one of the more forgettable parts of their bad defensive unit with just 26 tackles, two for a loss, and a forced fumble.
Adams and Morrow make just four Bears free agents who have signed new deals with other teams since the new league year started on March 15. The other two are running back David Montgomery, who signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Detroit Lions, and former starting tackle Riley Reiff, who landed with the New England Patriots on a one-year agreement. Most of the rest of the class is in limbo, but it remains to be seen if any of them will get offers to stick around in Chicago for 2023.
Bears Unlikely to Re-Sign More 2023 Free Agents
The best of the Bears’ remaining free agents are now safety DeAndre Houston-Carson and wide receivers Byron Pringle and N’Keal Harry. Given the Bears have traded for two receivers — Chase Claypool and D.J. Moore — over the past five months and already re-signed Equanimeous St. Brown on a short-term contract, it seems extremely unlikely that either Pringle or Harry will be retained. As for Houston-Carson, the Bears could always use the safety depth, but he isn’t an essential piece by any means.
Other notable free agents include center Sam Mustipher (restricted free agent), veteran guard Michael Schofield III and defensive lineman Armon Watts.
Meanwhile, the Bears have signed nine outside free agents to their 2023 roster in the first full week of the new league year, including Edmunds and Edwards at linebacker. The rest of the newcomers include offensive guard Nate Davis (Tennessee Titans), defensive end DeMarcus Walker (Titans), defensive tackle Andrew Billings (Las Vegas Raiders), backup quarterback P.J. Walker (Carolina Panthers), running backs D’Onta Foreman (Panthers) and Travis Homer (Seattle Seahawks), tight end Robert Tonyan Jr. (Green Bay Packers). They also re-signed long snapper Patrick Scales to a new deal.