Getty The Patriots hosted former Bears OL Lachavious Simmons for a visit.
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are showing significant interest in multiple former Chicago Bears players.
According to the NFL’s September 13 waiver wire, the Patriots brought in recently-released defensive tackle Micah Dew-Treadway and linebacker Sam Kamara for workouts, also hosting former Bears offensive lineman Lachavious “Pig” Simmons for a visit.
The Bears released Simmons from their practice squad on September 12, so the Pats didn’t waste any time giving him a look.
Dew-Treadway was waived by Chicago on September 2 and Kamara was released on September 1. All three players had solid preseasons with the Bears, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them catch on somewhere else.
All 3 Players Flashed Over 2022 Preseason
Simmons entered the league as a seventh-round pick out of Tennessee State for the Bears in 2020 (227th overall). The 6-foot-5, 319-pound O-Lineman was the only player in the draft to come from an historically Black college or university (HBCU) that year. He spent the bulk of the 2020 season on Chicago’s practice squad, eventually getting elevated to the active roster, although he didn’t see any playing time as a rookie.
The 26-year-old Simmons made the Bears’ 53-man roster in 2021, appearing in two games (one start), and he had a standout preseason in 2022. Simmons’ 90.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in the second preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks was the highest grade on the team for that game, and he finished the preseason with an impressive 92.7 overall grade, not surrendering any sacks, pressures or hurries in 60 snaps played at left guard.
Kamara signed with the Bears as an UDFA after the 2021 NFL draft. He played his college ball at Stony Brook, and made Chicago’s practice squad initially before getting moved up to the roster last year. He wound up appearing in eight games, playing 23% of the team’s defensive snaps and 43% of its special teams snaps.
The edge rusher flashed in the preseason this year, finishing with 14 total pressures, one QB hit, 12 hurries and 1.0 sacks in 103 pass rush snaps, per PFF. He should land on a practice squad somewhere.
The same goes for the 6-foot-4, 308-pound Dew-Treadway, who finished with 1.0 sacks, two pressures and a QB hurry in 66 pass rush snaps this preseason. Dew-Treadway went undrafted out of the University of Minnesota, and he has displayed a knack for getting into opponents’ backfields.
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We’ll see if any of the three land in New England after Belichick and company got a good look.
Bears Have Intriguing Young Players on Roster & PS
The primary reason Chicago parted ways with the likes of Dew-Treadway, Simmons and Kamara is because the team has several talented rookies and young free agent additions already on the roster.
One of the most intriguing is fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones, who became just the sixth offensive lineman in the league since 1991 to be selected in the fifth- round or later to start at left tackle Week 1 as a rookie.
Another is Dominique Robinson, who was ranked as PFF’s No. 2 rookie based on Week 1 performance, finishing with an 89.8 overall grade.
“Robinson had flashed at times this preseason, but not quite in the way he did in Week 1,” PFF’s Michael Renner wrote on September 13. “Robinson racked up two sacks and a hurry on only 15 pass-rushing snaps, then added two more run stops on 13 run-defense snaps.”
Bears first-year GM Ryan Poles drafted well, with several of his 2022 selections contribution in a significant way Week 1. It’s why the Bears could afford to let players lime Kamara and Simmons walk — and it’s a good sign for the future of the team.
Game 1 for 4 Bears’ draft picks:
2nd round S Jaquan Brisker: played every snap, 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FR
2nd round CB Kyler Gordon: played every snap, 6 tackles, 1 TFL
5th round LT Braxton Jones: played every snap
5th round DE Dominque Robinson: 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hits