The Chicago Bears are heading into Week 7 with a 3-2 record and have an excellent opportunity ahead of them with a relatively easy schedule of Saints, Ravens, Bengals, and Giants in their next four games. With the trade deadline only three weeks away, the Bears are going to use the next few games to evaluate their roster and decide whether they need any upgrades.
One of the areas of concern is the pass rush rotation. The Bears aren't generating enough pressure and only have eight sacks in five games. As a result, they decided to make roster moves on Friday to address this concern. ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported that the team was releasing defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon. This opens up a spot on the 53-man roster, which will likely go to defensive end Austin Booker, who is currently on the injured reserve list.
Austin Booker's Return Is Inevitable After Tanoh Kpassagnon Release
Kpassagnon was an offseason addition to the practice squad and was expected to be a depth piece in the pass rush rotation before signing to the active roster mid-season. He saw significant snaps in the first four weeks of the season, but was one of the factors for why the Bears' pass rush was unimpressive. The 31-year-old had a sack, a tackle for loss, and two QB hits in four games, and received a 51.1 overall defensive and 52.2 pass rush grade on Pro Football Focus.
Booker has been getting ready to be activated since returning to practice last week. Chicago opened his return-to-practice window last Tuesday, and the 22-year-old has been a full participant in practice since then, but wasn't activated for Monday night's game against the Commanders. With another week of practice under his belt, Booker looks to be the favorite to take that final roster spot.
Chicago's fifth-round pick from a year ago, Booker had suffered a knee injury in his second preseason game while he was in coverage on special teams. Before then, he was the star of the preseason for the Bears, recording five sacks in only 47 defensive snaps in two games. This production teased a breakout campaign for the second-year player, and Bears fans will hope that he can pick up where he left off.
If the Bears didn't desperately need Booker, they could think about bringing him along slowly. But they currently rank as the 27th-best defense in the NFL and have the fifth-worst pass rush grade in the league. Booker needs to play as many snaps as he can handle, starting on Sunday.