Chicago Bears veteran edge rusher Marcus Davenport plans to retire from the NFL after requesting his release from the team’s practice squad this week.
The Bears officially released Davenport — a 2018 first-round pick for the New Orleans Saints — from their practice squad on Monday, October 5, after he played 12 defensive snaps in his season debut in Week 4’s win over the New York Jets.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Davenport requested that the Bears release him after deciding to retire from the NFL early in his ninth season.
“Longtime NFL pass rusher Marcus Davenport has decided to retire, per me and Mike Garafolo,” Rapoport wrote Monday night on X. “Davenport asked for his release from the #Bears after playing his final game Sunday. The 30-year-old former #Saints first-rounder finishes with 25 career sacks for four teams.”
Marcus Davenport Had Rough Injury History Before Bears
The Bears picked up Davenport as veteran pass-rushing depth midway through training, but they put him on the practice squad to begin the regular season as they slowly ramped him up, not wanting to rush along a player with a long-running history of injuries.
Davenport played just 77 of 133 possible games in his career in the eight seasons before coming to Chicago, missing time with injuries to his chest, pectoral, shoulder, groin, ankle, calf, foot and toe. He never played every game in a single one of his seasons.
Davenport had particularly bad luck in the NFC North over the past three seasons, playing only four games in his one season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023 and appearing in just 10 games in two seasons with the Detroit Lions in 2024 and 2025.
The Bears decided to take a low-risk chance on Davenport because of his history with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who coached him in his first five seasons in New Orleans. Ultimately, though, it amounted to just one tackle in his lone game for them.
Bears’ Pass Rushers Look Much Improved Early in 2026
For all the panic about how little the Bears did to improve their pass rush in the 2026 offseason, the unit is looking much improved four games into the season.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Bears have the 14th-best pass-rush win rate (52%) in the league coming into Week 5. None of their edge rushers have cracked the list of top-20 individual performers in terms of win rates, but veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett is within the top 10 at his position, ranking fourth in run-stop win rate (46%) and 10th in pass-rush win rate (20%).
Dayo Odeyingbo — who missed half of last season with an Achilles injury — has a team-high three sacks through four games and has finally looked more like a pass rusher worthy of the three-year, $48 million contract that the Bears gave him in March 2025.
Meanwhile, Montez Sweat and Austin Booker have each added two sacks.
The Bears also have former second-round pick Shemar Turner nearing his return from the PUP list. The defensive tackle-turned-edge rusher is still working back from last November’s ACL tear, but he has practiced in each of the last two weeks for Chicago.
The results are not perfect, but at least the Bears are no longer in the league’s cellar.
Bears Edge Rusher Retires From NFL After Requesting Release