11 Bears Who Will Be Cut By Tuesday's Roster Deadline

2. Ian Wheeler, Running Back

Undrafted rookie running back Ian Wheeler has certainly done his part to win over fans through the HBO Hard Knocks series, but he may not have done enough to win himself a roster spot.

Although we did see the talent flash for Wheeler at times in the preseason, the Bears have simply had too many other significant developments at the running back position to keep him on the team right now. He's almost certainly destined for the practice squad.

We know that D'Andre Swift is going to play a massive role in this offense in 2024, but so is Khalil Herbert. There was talk at one point about Herbert potentially being on the roster bubble, but he appears to be entrenched as the RB2 for Chicago.

Roschon Johnson has been dealing with an injury this offseason as well, but when he's healthy, he's also going to be part of the running back rotation.

The Bears also appear poised to keep special teams ace Travis Homer on the roster despite the fact that he really only plays special teams. Homer is on that Matthew Slater regimen these days.

The big surprise of training camp and the preseason was the Bears basically turning Velus Jones Jr. into their version of Cordarrelle Patterson, and after seeing the early returns on that move, they're probably wondering why they didn't do it sooner.

Velus Jones Jr. has basically been living on the roster bubble but he's been somewhat of a revelation at the running back position, and he also offers value as a return specialist. The emergence of Jones at running back basically eliminated the possibility of a player like Wheeler making the team in year one.