Bears Cut Ties With Young Cornerback Ahead of 2023 NFL Draft

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has one fewer cornerback for his defense heading into the 2023 NFL draft.

The Chicago Bears are cutting ties with one of their young cornerbacks just days before the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

According to the NFL’s official transaction wire for April 24, the Bears released fourth-year cornerback Harrison Hand — a 2020 fifth-round pick for the Minnesota Vikings — from their 90-man offseason roster on Monday. The move creates roughly $1 million in additional cap space for Chicago and leaves beyond no dead money for the 2023 season.

The Bears had signed Hand to fill cornerback Thomas Graham’s practice-squad vacancy early in the 2022 regular season and later bumped him up to the 53-man roster, getting him action in four of their final five games as injuries plagued the position group. He ended up playing significant defensive snaps (110) in their closing two-game stretch and made his second career start in Week 18’s finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

Hand’s bigger two performances were a bit of a mixed bag, though. He looked solid in Week 17 against the Detroit Lions, making three tackles and breaking up the only pass that was thrown against his coverage, but he looked considerably worse a week later against the Vikings as a full-game starter, giving up eight receptions for 80 yards on nine targets despite forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Bears.

Josh Blackwell Officially Signs Tender With Bears

While the Bears did part ways with one cornerback on Monday, they got reassurance that another of their other depth pieces — 2022 undrafted rookie Josh Blackwell — is locked in to return for the 2023 offseason with hopes of making their 53-man roster.

The Bears tendered Blackwell as an exclusive rights free agent back on March 8 ahead of the new league year, and he officially signed it on April 24 to lock in a deal that Over the Cap shows will pay him $870,000 in base salary for the 2023 season. Now, the 24-year-old will have an opportunity to fight for a depth spot in training camp, especially with Hand’s departure thinning out his current competition a little bit.

Blackwell played in 16 games for the Bears in 2022 and recorded 23 tackles (16 solo) along with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. While he was primarily a special-teams contributor, injuries to key members of the cornerback group afforded him the opportunity to log 133 defensive snaps toward the end of the season. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed six receptions for 83 yards on 11 targets as a rookie.

Will Bears Draft Another Cornerback This Week?

The Bears are technically losing a body from their cornerback room with Hand’s release, but it might be irrelevant by this time next week after Chicago makes its decisions about draft picks and undrafted free agents signings from the 2023 class.

The Bears seem likely to use one of their 10 selections in the 2023 NFL draft on a rookie cornerback and could potentially target one as early as Day 2 of the draft with one of their three picks — Nos. 53, 61 and 64. Jaylon Johnson has been the Bears’ No. 1 corner for the past few seasons and is expected to continue in that role for 2023, but both he and Kindle Vildor will be up for new contracts after the season and, if not retained, could leave Chicago in a situation where Kyler Gordon is their only experienced option.

Even if the Bears do plan to extend Johnson, there is a good chance they could draft and develop a better starter than Vildor to complement the group moving forward.

The Bears will also have a chance to restock their cornerback room with some undrafted talent that will be available for signing starting next Monday. The Bears will still have 14 roster spots available even if they cash in all 10 of their draft picks on players, and while oftentimes UDFA signings amount to little more than camp bodies, there is always the possibility that the Bears will scope out a gem, as they did with Jack Sanborn in 2022.