One day before veterans report back to Halas Hall for the start of training camp, the Chicago Bears are cracking a door open for a free agent to turn some heads.
As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported , the Bears will be hosting a workout today for former Jacksonville Jaguars fourth-round pick Shaquille Quarterman.
Quarterman was selected by the Jaguars in the 2020 NFL Draft and appeared in 17 games each of the last three seasons. Quarterman played 51 percent of the Jaguars special teams snaps during the 2023 season.
The Bears have one open spot on the 90-man roster allowed for training camp and with a strong showing today, Quarterman could fill that final spot before the team's first practice of training camp on Saturday.
Quarterman played out his entire rookie contract with the Jaguars and became a free agent following the 2023 season. Interestingly enough, the Jaguars selected Quarterman with the 140th overall pick, the pick that originally belonged to the Bears but was traded to the Jaguars in exchange for quarterback Nick Foles in March, 2020.
The Bears have already brought in one backup linebacker this offseason in Amen Ogbongbemiga, along with having second-year Noah Sewell and Micah Baskerville as depth pieces in the room behind Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, and Jack Sanborn. If Quarterman's workout today goes well and he gets added to the roster for camp, he would then have to compete against those three players on the practice field.
Sewell appeared in 12 games for the Bears in 2023 and played 81 percent of the special teams snaps. Ogbongbemiga was also a key special teams contributor for the Los Angeles Chargers over the past three seasons, appearing in 47 games in that span.
As for more news leading up to training camp, the Bears placed third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie on the non-football injury list and undrafted rookie Jamree Kromah on the physically-unable-to-perform list. Both players are able to come off the list at any time during camp but are not permitted to practice, however they can participate in team activities such as meetings.
Amegadjie is still rehabbing from a torn quad suffered during his final season at Yale and is still expected to return at some point during camp, while Kromah is dealing with an injury suffered during team activities, the details of his injury is currently unknown.
