3 Chicago Bears players that could be cut this offseason

Tarik Cohen

Tarik Cohen was unable to return to the field in 2021 after suffering a torn ACL injury in 2020 and his roster spot may be in jeopardy.

The greatest mystery of the 2021 season for the Chicago Bears was running back Tarik Cohen. Cohen suffered a torn ACL injury against the Atlanta Falcons in the third week of the Bears’ 2020 season. The injury for Cohen came just after the running back had signed a three-year contract extension with the team worth $17.25 million.

To no surprise, Cohen missed the rest of the 2020 season but the expectation was that the running back would be healthy in time for the start of the 2021 season or shortly thereafter. Instead, Cohen did not play a single game for the Bears during the 2021 season. The Bears’ haven’t provided an injury update on Cohen since the start of the training camp in 2021 and the speculation is that the injury was either worse than originally reported or that the running back was forced to undergo a second injury.

In any event, with the emergence of Khalil Herbert as a complimentary back to starting running back David Montgomery, Cohen’s roster spot with the Bears has become expendable. Cohen’s has a cap hit for the 2022 season of $5.75 million but the Bears can designate the running back as a post-June 1 release and save $4 million. Creating $4 million by releasing Cohen with a post-June 1 designation may be the smart move for the Bears considering it is unclear what type of player the running back will be if he ever returns to the field.