With the deadline for the first wave of roster cuts looming, the Chicago Bears officially announced on Sunday its first round of roster cut moves.
First off, the Bears made official the move to put Brandon Hardin on the injury reserve list (IR). Hardin suffered a pretty savage neck injury during the Week 2 preseason match up against the Washington Redskins.
Having been massively unimpressed by Hardin all preseason, I am hoping that missing his rookie season will allow him the time to hit the gym and bulk up. He should also hit the classroom to learn the playbook and the safety position as he makes the conversion from cornerback role he played college.
When Hardin returns for the 2013 season, he will have missed two straight full seasons of football. He was sidelined all of last year (his senior year) at Oregon State with a season ending shoulder injury.
In other news, injured WR Johnny Knox continues to reside on the physically unable to perform list (PUP). Not a massive surprise after the back breaking injury he suffered at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in the 2011 NFL regular season.
Every day that passes, Knox takes one step closer to spending the 2012 season on the IR alongside Hardin. With the steps the Bears have taken this season to improve the wide receiver position, you have to wonder if this will leave Knox an obsolete cog in the machine come the 2013 season.
In other moves the Bears terminated the contract of veteran defensive tackle John McCargo. They proceeded to also waive linebacker K.C. Asiodu, quarterback Matt Blanchard, safety Trevor Coston, receivers Terriun Crump and Chris Summers; and defensive end Derek Walker. Also the Bears waived injured linebacker Adrien Cole and guard Nick Pieschel.
With the Bears roster currently sitting at 77, they will need to make at least two further cuts in the next 24 hours in order to meet the roster demands of the 3pm (CT) Monday deadline. On top of this they must make a further 22 cuts in order to comply with the 53 man roster limit by 8pm (CT) Friday.
As I have already eluded to in another article (click here), do not be surprised if these other cuts involve the names of a couple of seasoned veterans who simply no longer figure in the long term plans of the franchise.
* The Bears have now also announced that they have waived DE Thaddeus Gibson, taking their roster number now to 76
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