At this point in the regular season, most teams are not making many significant changes to their 53-man roster. The Chicago Bears are one of those teams, as they’ve been getting healthy over the last several weeks, with the returns of Jaylon Johnson, TJ Edwards, and hopefully Tremaine Edmunds.
That said, Chicago has made some changes to its practice squad, most recently bringing back Dominique Hampton earlier this week after releasing Jalen Reeves-Maybin. For many players, the practice squad presents an opportunity to either play this season or earn a futures deal for next season.
Ex-Bears offensive lineman Bill Murray hopes that’s the case for himself, as he’s latched on with another playoff contender for the final stretch. On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Colts announced that they signed Murray to the practice squad.
Former Bears Lineman Bill Murray Joins Colts' Practice Squad in Week 16
The 28-year-old Murray has had a rollercoaster 2025 season that began with the Bears waiving him at the end of the preseason due to injury.
It took a little bit of time for the ex-Bears offensive lineman to find his next opportunity, but he latched on with the New England Patriots on Nov. 25, signing to their practice squad. He didn’t appear in any games with the Patriots before they kicked him to the curb on Dec. 8.
Bears fans remember Murray’s time with the club from last season, where he appeared in three games after impressing the coaching staff with his play in training camp and the preseason.
Now, Murray didn’t play much in those games (42 total offensive snaps), as his 2024 campaign was cut short by a pectoral injury in Week 7. However, the Bears’ front office and new coaching staff still believed in his skills, offering Murray a tender in the offseason as an exclusive rights free agent.
It wasn’t a bad gamble by the Bears, who had Murray in their organization since August 2023, when they signed him to their practice squad.
That said, Murray’s quest to stay in Chicago for another season was doomed as he suffered an undisclosed injury in August, as we previously mentioned. Now, he’ll have a chance to show the Colts in practice that he warrants a possible call-up on gamedays, if an injury were to come up in the near future.
If that doesn’t happen, but the Colts make the playoffs, he still gets valuable practice time and could earn himself an opportunity to compete for a spot on the 53-man roster next season.