The Chicago Bears have signed 28-year old DE Chauncey Davis.  Davis played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he had 24 tackles, 1 sack, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception…which he returned for a TD.  Davis has now played in 96 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 178 tackles, 10 sacks, 20 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions (1 returned for a TD) and 6 passes defensed.  Davis will likely be the Bears’ #3 DE moving forward.

The Chicago Bears have waived 24-year old DE Nick Reed.  Reed played in 7 games for the Bears this year and he had 6 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 23 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has 23 tackles, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries and 3 passes defensed.  Reed will probably hook on with another team this season, but the Bears won’t miss him as he didn’t do much for them.

The Bears have waived 29-year old strong safety Chris Harris.  Harris played in 3 games for the Bears this year and he had 8 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  He played in 44 games in his four years with the Bears and he had 190 tackles, 21 passes defensed, 10 interceptions, 1 sack, 3 fumble recoveries and 6 tackles for a loss.  The Bears have claimed 22-year old LB Jabara Williams off waivers to replace Harris on the active roster.  Williams was a 7th round pick of the Rams in 2011.  He played in 2 games for the Rams this year but he didn’t have any tackles.

The Bears have lost rookie starting right offensive tackle Gabe Carimi for the next four weeks due to a dislocated right knee.  This is going to make the offensive line even worse for the Bears as Carimi was grading out the best of the bunch.  The Bears are only averaging 74.0 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry, so the O-Line isn’t getting much of a push in the running game.  Jay Cutler has already been sacked 11 times so far this year, so this injury could make things a lot worse.

The Bears have released 23-year old cornerback Joshua Moore.  Moore played in 3 games as a rookie for the Bears last year and he had 1 whole tackle.  The Bears won’t miss him one bit in 2011 and beyond as he showed nothing in over a year for the Bears.

The Bears have signed 27-year old safety Brandon Meriweather to a 1-year deal.  Meriweather played in 16 games for the Patriots last year and he had 68 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he recovered 1 fumble, defensed 6 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  He has now played in 64 games in his first 4 years in the NFL and he has 261 tackles, 12 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), defensed 27 passes, has 9 tackles for a loss, 5 forced fumbles, recovered 1 fumble and he has 2 sacks.  This is an outstanding signing for the Bears as players that have made it to two Pro Bowls in their first four years in the NFL rarely become available on cutdown day.

The Bears have released 31-year old RB Chester Taylor.  Taylor played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he carried the ball 112 times for 267 yards (2.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 20 passes for 139 yards (7.0 avg) last year.  Kahlil Bell’s play plus the addition of Marion Barber in free agency pretty much pushed Chester Taylor out the door.  He should have played better last season, instead of sucking, if he wanted to keep his job in 2011.

UPDATE:  (8/29/2011) – Taylor hasn’t been released yet as the Bears are trying to trade him right now.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Bears have officially released Chester Taylor.

The Chicago Bears have lost 24-year old DE Corey Wootton for the next 4 weeks due to knee surgery.  He injured his knee in the pre-season opener against the Bills.  The Bears took a chance on DE Corey Wootton who slipped to them in the 2010 NFL Draft because he was injury prone.  He played in 6 games for the Bears last year and he had 5 tackles and 1 sack.  Wootton still has a nice upside but it won’t matter until he can stay healthy for a while.

The Bears have re-signed 34-year old TE Desmond Clark.  Clark played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Bears last year and he caught 1 pass for 12 yards.  Clark has now played in 110 games in his first 8 years with the Bears and he has caught 242 passes for 2,639 yards (10.9 avg) with 18 TD grabs.  Don’t look for Clark to have a big role in the passing game for the Bears but they are still happy to have him back.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Bears have released Desmond Clark.

The Bears have re-signed 27-year old linebacker Brian Iwuh to a 1-year deal.  Iwuh played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he had 26 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and he forced 2 fumbles.  He has now played in 74 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 109 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  This was a smart move for the Bears as Iwuh gives them solid depth at linebacker.