31 Bears on the roster bubble are eligible for practice squad

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After the Bears play their final preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, Ryan Pace will only have a few days to trim his roster down to 53 players.


Cuts could begin as early as Thursday night after the games, and the waiver wire will be active throughout the weekend.


Once the dust settles and the Bears’ roster is set, the second scramble begins as every team races to fill their 10-player practice squads.


The collective bargaining agreement has complicated rules about which players are eligible, and there are different types of eligibility that limit how many experienced players a team can keep on their squad.


In total, over half of the Bears’ current 90-man roster is eligible, but that includes players like Mitchell Trubisky and Leonard Floyd, who have no chance of being released.


Looking specifically at players on the roster bubble, the team has 31 players who could be candidates for the practice squad if they don’t make the final roster. Here’s the list, in alphabetical order.
 
OL Dejon Allen
DL Abdullah Anderson
WR Demarcus Ayers
TE Ben Braunecker
LS Tanner Carew
OT Rashaad Coward
DB Rashard Fant
OLB Kylie Fitts
CB John Franklin III
WR Tanner Gentry
OL Brandon Greene
DB Deiondre’ Hall
LB Ro’Derrick Hoskins
S DeAndre Houston-Carson
OLB Isaiah Irving
WR Garrett Johnson
WR Malachi Jones
CB Michael Joseph
CB Cre’Von LeBlanc
DB Jonathon Mincy
RB Taquan Mizzell
OL Jordan Morgan
RB Ryan Nall
LB Elijah Norris
S Nick Orr
TE Colin Thompson
CB Kevin Toliver II
DL Cavon Walker
WR Javon Wims
P Ryan Winslow
LB Josh Woods
 
Practice squad eligibility might actually hurt these players’ chances to make the 53-man roster because the team could still be able to hold onto them. That could give a leg up to some players on the bubble who can’t be stashed on the squad, like tight end Daniel Brown, center Hroniss Grasu, cornerback Doran Grant and linebackers Jonathan Anderson and John Timu.


It’s a difficult game for Pace to play, because any player he tries to keep on the practice squad could be swiped by another team looking to find a potential steal on the scrap heap.
 

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