The Chicago Bears had a busy offseason that saw them bring in tons of talent. The hope is that it will result in a sizable improvement to their record and even a potential playoff push. A year after drafting Caleb Williams, the Bears gave him more protection and offensive weapons.
The team brought in Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, Ozzy Trapilo, and Luke Newman to revamp their offensive line. Colston Loveland and Luther Burden were also selected with the team's first two draft picks to give the Bears one of the best receiving corps in football.
After a somewhat disappointing rookie season, there are no excuses left on the table for Williams. He is expected to have ample time to throw the ball, and the Bears need it to result in huge passing numbers. In addition to adding to the offense, the Bears also improved the defense, with the additions of Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo being the most notable.
There were a number of surprising roster cuts in Chicago. Ian Wheeler didn't even make it to the final round of cuts for the team despite having a two-touchdown game in the preseason. He is one of the best players now on the open market. Furthermore, Tyler Scott was cut despite being a fourth-round pick just two years ago. Scott had underwhelmed in his first two seasons, but he showed signs of improvement during training camp, and it was believed that this was the year that he could finally break out.
With all of this inbound talent and newfound depth, there was bound to be some surprise roster cuts in Chicago during cut-down day. Who was the most surprising player to not make the Bears' 53-man roster?
Bears release Tanoh Kpassagnon
The Bears are stacked at running back and receiver, though, so neither of these moves was overly shocking. Wheeler was competing for a job with D'Andre Swift, Roshon Johnson, Kyle Monangai, Royce Freeman, and Travis Homer, but the Bears decided to only roster the former three on the 53-man squad. Scott, meanwhile, had to go up against Burden, Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore, Olamide Zaccaheus, Devin Duvernay, and preseason standout Jahdae Walker.
Because of that, the most surprising roster cut was Tanoh Kpassagnon. The defensive end was a second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, meaning he was sandwiched in between Patrick Mahomes and Kareem Hunt as Chiefs' draftees that year. Kpassagnon never quite lived up to his potential with the team, but he did win a Super Bowl and became the full-time starter by 2020.
Kpassagnon has since spent the last four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, where he has become a key rotational option in the trenches for the team. He has 16.5 career sacks, so the Bears brought him in as yet another defensive line depth piece. With Amen Ogbongbemiga on the injured reserve, it was assumed that Kpassagnon had a good chance to make the 53-man roster.
The Villanova product seemingly hasn't been the same since a torn Achilles tendon, though. Austin Booker had been one of the best preseason performers in Chicago, which made Kpassagnon expendable. Kpassagnon could return on the practice squad, but that isn't a guarantee, and he will certainly have less of an impact in 2025 than anticipated when he originally signed with the team.
