Bears Pull Off Sneaky Roster Move to Sign Standout Rookie Cornerback After Impressive Tryout Showing

The Chicago Bears are taking crafty advantage of an NFL roster rule to sign an undrafted rookie who tried out for them during last weekend’s minicamp.

According to the team’s official transaction wire, the Bears signed former Stephen F. Austin cornerback Jeremiah Walker to their 90-man offseason roster on Monday. They also placed starting punter Tory Taylor on the exempt/international player list, which allowed them to add Walker without needing to make a corresponding roster cut.

Taylor can remain on the exempt/international player list and still participate in all team activities until the 53-man roster cut deadline. At that point, the Bears will need to bring him back to the active roster and ensure there is a roster spot available for him.

The Bears employed the same tactic with the Australian Taylor during his rookie season to effectively give themselves a 91st player for their roster during 2024’s training camp.

The Bears will reconvene for the start of OTAs on May 20. They will hold 10 voluntary practices at Halas Hall for veterans and rookies before concluding their offseason program with a three-day mandatory minicamp scheduled to run from June 3-5.

Jeremiah Walker Faces Long Odds to Win Roster Spot

Walker seems to have impressed the Bears coaching staff enough to earn another look during the team’s OTAs this month, but his chances of making the team appear slim.

Walker tallied 188 total tackles (112 solo) along with one sack, five tackles for loss, four interceptions and 25 pass deflections during his five seasons with the Lumberjacks. He showed versatility as a defensive back, moving from safety as a freshman to outside cornerback for the remainder of his collegiate career. He also returned kicks in 2021.

Unfortunately for him, the Bears are relatively solidified at the cornerback position.

The Bears have clear-cut starters in Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon along with three recent draft picks — Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith and rookie Zah Frazier — who are in the mix to win the No. 2 starting role on the boundary opposite Johnson. The Bears also re-signed special-teams asset and backup slot cornerback Josh Blackwell to a two-year contract extension this offseason, giving them six promising options at corner.

That’s not to say Walker is a bad investment or that he cannot win a practice-squad spot with them if he lasts until training camp, but he faces long odds to make the 53 squad.

Bears Could Make More Roster Moves Before OTAs

The Bears have reached the 90-man — or, rather, 91-man — roster limit, but that does not mean they are done tweaking things before OTAs kick off next Tuesday.

The Bears had 22 other players try out for them at rookie minicamp, and while they made a move to sign Walker coming out of the weekend, they could still circle back and sign another tryout player to their roster before their next on-field work begins.

Chicago could even sign another punter. While Taylor — a 2024 fourth-round pick — is all but guaranteed to retain his starting role for the 2025 season, the Bears might feel that adding another punter to compete with him is in their best interest. After all, they signed a second kicker and long snapper to their roster coming out of the 2025 draft.

Any additional roster signings will require the Bears to make a corresponding cut.