Carlson Cut By Bears; Is Practice Squad Next?

The Chicago Bears pared their roster to the NFL’s mandatory 53-man limit Tuesday.

Stephen Carlson was not on it.

The tight end from Jamestown was one of 24 players who were waived. Six more vested veterans (players with at least four accrued NFL seasons) had their contracts terminated and they became free agents.

But all is not lost for the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Carlson.

According to the team website, the Bears can “establish a 16-man practice squad, with six of those players having unlimited NFL experience, and also claim players who have been waived by other NFL teams.”

Furthermore, the website notes, “NFL clubs typically stock their practice squads with players they waived during final cuts, so several of the players trimmed from the Bears’ roster Tuesday could be re-signed to the practice squad.”

Carlson a 2015 graduate of Jamestown High School and a 2019 graduate of Princeton University had been hoping to find a new NFL home after not being tendered a contract by Cleveland in 2022 after tearing his ACL in August 2021 and missing all of the 2021 season. After rehabbing his knee, he was ultimately signed by the Bears in May, and participated in Chicago’s mandatory veteran minicamp in mid-June and their training camp that started in late July.

In his final preseason game last Saturday against Buffalo, Carlson caught a team-high three passes for 41 yards, including a 28-yard catch and run that set up the Bears’ fourth-quarter touchdown.