Chicago Bears: Five players the Bears will likely cut before the season

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Hroniss Grasu

I was considering Kevin White for this spot given his injury issues and ineffectiveness even when he did play. However, his $5.27 million 2018 contract is guaranteed due to his status as a first-round draft pick. As such, the Chicago Bears would likely far rather see if he can make an impact with this new coaching staff than cast him out immediately.

Grasu, on the other hand? Cutting him would be easy.

The former third-round pick out of Oregon would only carry $190,480 in dead cap if the Bears released him before next season. That’s less than chump change for an NFL franchise.

And I think we’ve seen enough to know that Grasu probably won’t turn into an adequate NFL center.

Even prior to his ACL injury in 2016, Grasu struggled to function against NFL interior linemen, generally giving up a lot of size and strength. And after returning from injury last season and getting chances to play when Josh Sitton, Kyle Long and Tom Compton missed time with injuries, he couldn’t keep anyone out of backfield.

Now, maybe we’re too quick to give up on him. Perhaps he’ll play better another year removed from his ACL injury. And maybe the arrival of Mark Helfrich, his old coach at Oregon, can help him re-discover his comfort zone as a player.

He certainly will at least get an opportunity to show what he can do in camp.

But if the Chicago Bears decide that Grasu’s play and his limited positional versatility make him a liability, cutting him won’t be hard.