The Chicago Bears have a bunch of tough decisions to make regarding their roster, but they were able to trim it down to 53 players.
The focus is on the Week 1 showdown against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. With the excitement through the roof for the Ben Johnson era, the countdown is on. And with less than two weeks until gameday, rookie WR Luther Burden decided to change his number from 87 to 13 ahead of his rookie campaign.
Number changes: WR Luther Burden III will be wearing No. 13 for the Bears. Jahdae Walker is No. 10.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) August 27, 2025
Bears WR Luther Burden Quickly Changed Number
Throughout the spring and summer, Burden donned No. 87. During these portions of the offseason, players typically grab whatever numbers are available, but once the final roster is set, they ditch old numbers for new ones. And that's what Burden did here.
In both high school and college, he wore No. 3, so having a high number in the 80s was never his style. I'm a believer in Deion Sanders' infamous quote of "If you look good, you feel good; if you feel good, you play good; if you play good, they pay good." And with the young switching numbers, it's clear he didn't like how he looked with no. 87.
In the grand scheme of things, this isn't something that will positively or negatively affect his play on the field. The Bears have D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze as their top WRs on the depth chart, but Burden will play a role in this passing attack.
This preseason, Burden tallied five catches for 76 receiving yards. He even had a carry for nine yards.
The 21-year-old is a shifty and dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands, so look for Chicago to utilize that skillset. In three collegiate seasons at Missouri, he had 192 receptions for 2,263 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns.
He missed some time this offseason due to a soft tissue injury but managed to return during training camp. The next few weeks will be all about gearing up for the 2025 campaign, but this time, he'll be doing so wearing No. 13, which Keenan Allen wore last year in Chicago.