The Bears offseason, already among the NFL’s busiest, spun again on Thursday with roster trims that included wide receiver Eddie Royal and defensive lineman Will Sutton, two players that finished 2016 on injured reserve but had figured prominently into personnel and rotation packages over the past two seasons.
Also waived were offensive lineman Cornelius Edison and fullback Paul Lasike.
Royal was a high-profile signing in the first offseason under GM Ryan Pace and coach John Fox, agreeing to a three-year deal with $10 million guaranteed with the plan for him to be a slot receiver complementing Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White. But with a succession of injuries, Royal played in just nine games in each of the past two seasons, finishing with 33 catches last season and 37 in 2015, and a total of just 3 TD receptions, plus a punt returned for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles last season.
[BEARS TICKETS: Get your seats right here]
His contract contained no more guaranteed money for this season. The Bears’ signings of Rueben Randle, Markus Wheaton and Kendall Wright, the anticipated return of White from a broken leg, and the emergence of Cameron Meredith created a crowd on the depth chart ahead of Royal, who turns 31 this month.
Sutton was a third-round pick in 2014 under then-GM Phil Emery, projected as a 4-3 interior pass rusher out of Arizona State. He earned a spot in the 3-4 schemes under coordinator Vic Fangio and line coach Jay Rodgers, and started six games last season as an undersized nose tackle before going down for the year with an ankle injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The offseason additions of Jaye Howard from the Kansas City Chiefs and John Jenkins from the Seattle Seahawks added needed size to the defensive line, which also has Jonathan Bullard, Eddie Goldman, Akiem Hicks and Mitch Unrein in the mix for front-line playing time.