After a busy day of trimming down the roster to 53 players for the Chicago Bears, the following day comes with more transactions around the league.
NFL teams have until 1 pm ET on August 31st to claim non-vested veteran cuts off waivers, and the Bears surprisingly did not add a single player that was released.
However, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the New Orleans Saints have claimed undrafted offensive lineman Mason Murphy off waivers, whom the Bears cut ties with on August 3oth.
“#Saints
claimed OT Mason Murphy off waivers from the #Bears,” Biggs tweeted out. “There was at least one other team poking around on the Auburn product after watching his preseason film.”
Saints Quickly Claim Former Bears Offensive Lineman Mason Murphy Off Waivers
Mason Murphy’s chances of making the roster were slim, considering the Bears boast one of the league’s top offensive lines with plenty of talent.
Chicago has decided to keep 10 offensive linemen, which are the following:
- Braxton Jones
- Joe Thuney
- Garrett Bradbury
- Jonah Jackson
- Darnell Wright
- Ozzy Trapilo
- Jordan McFadden
- Logan Jones
- Luke Newman
- Theo Benedet
Murphy, however, has experience at multiple positions on the offensive line from his time in college, ranging from around 200 snaps at left tackle and center to over 1,700 snaps at right tackle. Likely a huge reason why the Saints were quick to claim him on waivers.
Bears Plan At Left Tackle
At this point, the team has not announced who the starting left tackle will be for Week 1, but it likely won’t come as a surprise.
Especially after the Bears have cut ties with both Jedrick Wills and Kiran Amegadjie.
All signs point to Braxton Jones manning down the LT spot while Ozzy Trapilo recovers from injury, and Theo Benedet as the Bears’ main swing tackle.
On the 25th, head coach Ben Johnson said the left tackle spot is a ‘hot spot,’ saying, “It’s a hot spot for us. Obviously, we talk about it almost every time I’m up here, and yet I don’t know that we are 100% sold on who that guy is going to be for Carolina yet. We’re going to still work through it.”
Jones talked about fighting for the starting left tackle role earlier this offseason, saying, “I mean, I think like I said, it’s a competition. Whoever, I mean, Ben [Johnson] said it the other day, you know, jobs are going to come down to the most consistent players. So whoever is most consistent, that’s what I’m working on is being the most consistent and doing my job all the time, knowing when and where to be, and, you know, but like I said too, we’re all a brotherhood. You know, we’re all trying to go after one thing. So whoever’s the best to go take us to a Super Bowl, is going to be the left tackle, you know what I’m saying? So, and then we just got to protect 18.”
He’ll likely be the starter, and hopefully getting benched for Trapilo last season will motivate him to improve his play.