The Bears did some roster juggling early this week that included the procedural moves of cutting veterans Scott Daly and Devin Duvernay. On Thursday, the team announced it has re-signed their long snapper and returner.
Duvernay, a two-time Pro Bowler, will serve as the Bears’ return specialist. He has averaged 12 yards on 88 career punt returns and 24.9 yards on 87 career kickoff returns, with two return touchdowns.
Daly replaced the injured Patrick Scales before the 2024 season, appearing in all 17 games as the team’s long snapper. He joins with kicker Cairo Santos and punter Tory Taylor among the specialists.
The Bears also placed defensive lineman Austin Booker on injured reserve with a knee injury that will keep him out a few weeks. They waived linebacker Carl Jones Jr.
Chicago signed tight end Nikola Kalinic, defensive back Dontae Manning and defensive back Gervarrius Owens to its practice squad and released long snapper Luke Elkin and defensive back Mekhi Garner from the practice squad.
The Bears did some roster shuffling a day after setting their initial 53-man roster.
Linebacker D’Marco Jackson and defensive back Jaylon Jones both joined the team after successful waiver claims. Long snapper Scott Daly and wide receiver Devin Duvernay were released in corresponding moves.
Jackson had 26 tackles and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 27 games for New Orleans the last two years. Jones played 41 games for the Bears over the last three seasons, but moved on to the Cardinals this offseason. His return will allow him to add to the 85 tackles he compiled in his previous stint with the team.
Daly was the only long snapper on the 53-man roster, so his departure may be temporary. They did make long snapper Luke Elkin one of 15 additions to their practice squad.
The other 14 players are wide receivers Maurice Alexander, Miles Boykin, and JP Richardson; running back Brittain Brown; tight end Stephen Carlson; defensive linemen Xavier Carlton, Jonathan Ford, Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Jamree Kromah; linebacker Power Echols; defensive backs Tre Flowers and Mekhi Garner; and offensive linemen Jordan McFadden and Ricky Stromberg.
The Bears activated cornerback Jaylon Johnson from their non-football injury list and placed him on their initial 53-man roster Tuesday, but it’s not a sure thing that Johnson will be in the lineup against the Vikings to open the season.
Johnson missed all of training camp and the preseason with a soft-tissue injury he suffered while away from the team, so there’s a limited window to get him up to speed before the first Monday night of the season. On Tuesday, General Manager Ryan Poles said the team won’t try to speed up that process.
“We’re taking that really day-to-day,” Poles said, via the team’s website. “When I was going out to practice, he was running and doing agility work, so I feel like he’s getting better. When you’re going from not playing and just training to football, there are all kinds of different things that kind of change timelines, so we’re hopeful that he continues to get better. But we also have to be smart to make sure he’s good long-term as well. We’ll just take that day-by-day and really work with our medical staff to make sure we’re doing right by Jaylon.”
Teams will start issuing injury reports for practices next week and those sessions as well as comments from head coach Ben Johnson should provide more of an idea about Johnson’s availability for the opener.
Bears cornerback Zah Frazier, a fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft, will miss his entire rookie season on the Non-Football Injury/Illness list.
Via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com, G.M. Ryan Poles addressed the matter on Tuesday.
“He had a situation that presented itself in a category that I would say [is] ‘personal,’” Poles said. “As we dug into it, tried to help him out, it revealed itself as something that happened before he got here. So, credit to our staff finding the root cause of what he was going through.
“Kind of a bummer on the front end, but I think because of everyone’s hard work and care here we got him on the right path.”
Cronin explains that Frazier last practiced during the annual rookie minicamp. He was spotted, per Cronin, at practice on August 20. It was his first appearance during training camp; he was riding on a golf cart with team personnel.
Frazier turns 25 in October. At the Scouting Combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds.
Poles said that Frazier will Poles attend meetings, work out in the weight room, and work with the team’s medical staff in the hopes of making his debut in 2026.
Running back Travis Homer and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga are not on the Bears’ initial 53-man roster for the 2025 season, but they could be back later in the year.
Both players were placed on injured reserve as part of the Bears’ final cuts on Tuesday. They were designated to return, so they could return after missing the first four games of the season.
The Bears activated cornerback Jaylon Johnson and punter Tory Taylor, which leaves them eligible to play in Week 1.
They also waived or released defensive backs Tysheem Johnson and Mekhi Garner; offensive linemen Doug Kramer, Jordan McFadden, Bill Murray, and Ricky Stromberg; wide receivers Maurice Alexander, JP Richardson, Tyler Scott, and Miles Boykin; running back Brittain Brown; long snapper Luke Elkin; defensive linemen Jonathan Ford, Jamree Kromah, Zacch Pickens, and Tanoh Kpassagnon; and tight end Stephen Carlson.
