The Bears are not done augmenting their defensive line situation. A day after obtaining edge rusher Darrell Taylor from the Seahawks, the team turned to an AFC North depth chart for another solution up front.
Cleveland is sending defensive tackle Chris Williams to Chicago, The Athletic’s Adam Jahns reports. This is a pick-swap trade, with the Bears receiving Williams and a 2025 seventh-rounder and the Browns collecting a sixth. The 2025 sixth originally came from the Dolphins, Jahns adds.
This late-August period has doubled as a trade window for a while, as teams prepare to set their 53-man rosters. The Bears will use it to reunite Williams with Matt Eberflus. The Colts initially signed Williams as a 2020 UDFA, doing so during Eberflus’ time as Indianapolis’ DC. This should bring scheme familiarity for the practice squad veteran, who played in 13 games as a Colts backup from 2021-22.
The Bears have now made five trades involving veteran players this offseason. They obtained Ryan Bates from the Bills, landed Keenan Allen from the Chargers, sent Justin Fields to the Steelers, dealt for Taylor and have now brought in D-tackle help. Williams, who did not see regular-season time in 2023, has played only 107 career defensive snaps. The former UDFA may still not be a roster lock for the Bears. But this trade suggests the team wanted to get ahead of the waiver process to obtain a player familiar with Eberflus’ defense.
Williams, 26, signed a reserve/futures deal with the Browns in January but may have been likely to see an AFC team cut him once again. Williams went to camp with the Chiefs in 2023, failing to make the Super Bowl champions’ 53-man roster before eventually landing on the Browns’ P-squad to close out last season. The Browns have some established vets at D-tackle, re-signing Shelby Harris and Maurice Hurst and adding Quinton Jefferson to go with Dalvin Tomlinson. Cleveland also used a second-round pick on Michael Hall, providing a presumptive roadblock for Williams toward the 53-man roster.
Williams will join 2023 Day 2 picks Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens at DT, along with veteran Andrew Billings, at DT with Chicago. Pickens has missed recent time due to injury, with the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs also expecting veteran Byron Cowart to make the roster. Saturday’s trade stands to adjust this calculus. The team did not draft a D-tackle, instead trading back into this year’s draft for D-end Austin Booker. Williams profiles as a depth piece, but it is clear the Bears were dissatisfied with their D-line as the preseason wound down.