Bears make a necessary roster move after the Jeffery Simmons trade, but the decision they made has a solid chance of backfiring
The Chicago Bears are expected to released defensive end Jamree Kromah once the Jeffery Simmons trade finalizes and it’s a risky decision for the Bears to make.
The Chicago Bears kicked off the day with a bang after making a blockbuster trade with the Tennessee Titans to land All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Once the deal is finalized, Simmons will quickly bring a major impact to this defense, and this trade is already creating an impact on the 53-man roster.
In order to complete the trade, the Bears needed to first open up a roster spot and it sounds like the decision has been made.
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Bears will be releasing defensive end Jamree Kromah, who was a preseason standout and got some action over the last two weeks during Montez Sweat’s suspension.
Why releasing Jamree Kromah is a risky move for the Bears
Don’t get me wrong, someone had to be cut from this defensive line. Kromah was a name I was looking at as someone that could be released to process the trade for Simmons, but the player I anticipated getting cut was undrafted rookie defensive tackle Jayden Loving.
Loving made the most sense in my eyes to sneak back on the practice squad. He’s been a healthy inactive all season and the Bears now have added depth at the position with Simmons coming to town. He also didn’t play much during the preseason and is a rookie, so there’s not much tape for other teams to consider making a claim.
Regardless of who the Bears decided to cut, Chicago has an open spot on the practice squad right now following the promotion of running back Zavier Scott and the plan would be to bring back that released player anyways, saying they clear through waivers.
With Kromah, he’s a player that shined during the preseason and played pretty well against the run over the last two weeks in his limited role. Not only that, he’s also a player that has already been poached once by another team.
In 2024, the New England Patriots stole Kromah off Chicago’s practice squad but ended up releasing him a few weeks later, leading to him returning with the Bears. Kromah has developed a lot since then and teams have seen that development in action, in the preseason and now in the regular season.
It’s far from a guarantee that he clears waivers and makes it back onto the practice squad. I feel like Loving would have given the Bears a better chance to sneak back on. We’ll see what happens, but it only takes one team to put a claim in to potentially lose Kromah again.
