The Chicago Bears stayed true to the competition they had in training camp when crafting their initial 53-man roster for the 2025 season, even when it forced them to make “difficult” decisions about which players to waive.
Following Tuesday’s roster cutdown, Bears general manager Ryan Poles spoke about some of the players who exceeded expectations for them in camp and won roster spots on merit, including undrafted wide receiver and preseason standout Jahdae Walker.
He also emphasized how “difficult” it was for the staff to make the necessary cuts at the receiver position, particularly when it came to “letting Tyler Scott go” from the roster.
“When I think of Jahdae and I think of [offensive tackle] Theo [Benedet], where they walked in to where they are today, the discussion was developmental, and then they put themselves a little bit ahead of that curve,” Poles said Tuesday. “So that receiver group [turned out well for us], which made letting Tyler Scott go today difficult, but we have to stay true to the competition and true to the talent, not where guys are drafted.
“So I’m proud of that. I’m proud of our group and the development for [Walker]. He earned it.”
Tyler Scott Never Delivered on Potential for Chicago
While Poles and his staff found it “difficult” to move on from Scott at the cut deadline, the writing had been on the wall for the 23-year-old speedster for a few months now.
The Bears made significant improvements to their receiving corps during the offseason, signing veterans Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay for depth behind starters D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze and drafting Luther Burden III early in the second round.
It didn’t help, either, that Scott’s second season in Chicago turned out to be a total dud. He went from catching 17 passes for 168 yards and playing 439 offensive snaps in 2023 as a rookie to virtually vanishing within the Bears offense in 2024, catching a single 5-yard pass while playing just 55 total snaps — 20 offensive and 35 on special teams.
While Scott seemed to enter camp with an inside track to winning the final depth spot in the six-man receiving rotation, the Bears saw other receivers overtake him quickly. Walker is the one who ended up replacing Scott on the depth chart, but 28-year-old Maurice Alexander also gave him a run for his money throughout the preseason.
Scott went unclaimed on waivers, but he is unlikely to return to the practice squad as the team already signed three receivers to the reserve unit on Wednesday: Alexander, Miles Boykin and rookie JP Richardson — all of whom went through camp with them.
Jahdae Walker Has Claimed Tyler Scott’s No. 10 Jersey
Walker did more than just take Scott’s spot on the 53-man roster. He also grabbed the No. 10 jersey he left behind and made it his own heading into his rookie NFL season.
Walker swapped from his No. 20 jersey to No. 10 on the day after the roster cutdown, taking advantage of the new availability of numbers and picking one that better suited his interests. He had worn the No. 9 jersey in college at Texas A&M, but Bears starting strong safety Jaquan Brisker currently wears that number, ruling it out for him.
In other jersey-related news, Burden also changed his number from the No. 87 that he chose after the team drafted him at No. 39 overall in the spring. He will now wear No. 13 for the Bears, a closer resemblance to the No. 3 jersey he had worn at Missouri.
Burden is likely happy about the change. He had told reporters in the spring during the first day of rookie minicamp that he had chosen No. 87 because “all the good numbers were gone.” The Bears have several receiver-appealing jersey numbers retired, such as the No. 3 (Bronko Nagurski), the No. 5 (George McAfee) and the No. 7 (George Halas).
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