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The Chicago Bears are moving on from one of their 2022 draft picks and may not have an opportunity to re-sign him to their practice squad for the 2024 season.
According to KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson, the Bears waived right guard Ja’Tyre Carter from their roster on August 26 ahead of the NFL’s 53-man roster cut deadline. The 2022 seventh-round pick has played 13 games and made two starts for the Bears over the past two seasons, playing more than 200 snaps at the team’s interior spots.
Wilson added Carter is “expected” to draw “interest” from other teams on the waivers.
The Bears waiving Carter is a bit unexpected. While the 25-year-old would have been a reserve guard for the team in 2024, they have two starters — Teven Jenkins and Nate Davis — with injury histories and could stand to have additional interior line depth.
Instead, the Bears will now likely tab veterans Ryan Bates and Matt Pryor with backup duties for their interior spots. Carter’s departure could also open the door for the Bears to keep preseason standout Bill Murray on their 53-man roster for the 2024 season.
Did Bill Murray Bump Ja’Tyre Carter Off 53-Man Roster?
The Bears giving Carter the boot does raise a few eyebrows. He played the second-most preseason snaps (135) among Chicago’s offensive linemen and held up fairly well in his four performances, allowing just four pressures, one quarterback hit and three hurries. He also spent the majority of his time at left guard after almost exclusively playing right guard in his first two seasons, flexing his versatility to play multiple interior positions.
The problem for Carter? Murray outplayed him soundly in the preseason.
Murray — who spent the 2023 season on the Bears’ practice squad — played close to the same number of snaps (125) in the preseason as Carter but performed better as both a pass protector and a run blocker in four games. He allowed no sacks, hits, hurries or pressures while playing 95 snaps at right guard and another 30 snaps at left guard.
For his efforts, Murray earned both the third-best overall grade (88.5) and third-best pass-blocking grade (90.4) from Pro Football Focus among all offensive linemen who played snaps during the preseason. That’s no small achievement for a player who spent the first two seasons of his career as a defensive tackle before converting into a guard.
The Bears may still waive Murray, but it certainly helps his roster case to have outlasted Carter — one of his top competitors for a depth spot — ahead of roster cutdown day.
The Bears waiving Carter a full day before the cutdown deadline could also be part of general manager Ryan Poles’ efforts to do right by his players. The third-year guard should benefit from hitting the waivers now if Wilson is correct that other teams have an interest in him. Now, Carter can potentially find a team before the rush of cuts.
Bears LB Javin White Also Missed 53-Man Roster Cut
The Bears cuts ties with more than Carter on their final day before 53-man roster cuts. According to Wilson, the team also released veteran linebacker Javin White on Monday.
White — who previously played for the Las Vegas Raiders — saw action in all four of the Bears’ preseason games but faced an uphill battle trying to crack the roster behind the team’s three locks for the roster: Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn. A rough preseason debut from Amen Ogbongbemiga created an opening for White, but he tallied just four preseason tackles (with one miss) in 39 snaps and went unnoticed.
One thing to potentially glean from the Bears releasing White is their continued faith in 2023 fifth-round pick Noah Sewell, who has missed much of camp with an injury. They could have considered moving on from him if they felt unsatisfied with his growth or long-term outlook, but cutting White signals Sewell will spend another year in the mix.
The Bears are now down to 84 players on their active roster and will be required to make 31 more cuts before the NFL deadline at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on August 27.
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