With a 3 p.m. Saturday deadline looming to trim their roster from 75 players to 53, the Chicago Bears wasted no time pulling the trigger on several roster moves after their 18-16 defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.
Leading the barrage of cuts was the departure of offensive lineman J’Marcus Webb, who had started 44 games for the Bears and came into camp as the starting left tackle for the team. Webb broke the news himself through his Twitter account:
Good bye, Chicago! I gave you 3 years of me. — J'Marcus Webb (@jmarcuswebb) August 30, 2013
Word had also filtered out last night from various media members at Soldier Field that Webb had cleaned his locker out, and he was unable to talk after last night’s contest.
Webb had worn out his welcome with the Bears over training camp and during the preseason. After a dismal performance in the team’s first game against the Carolina Panthers, Webb was demoted to a back-up right tackle, and he could never quite earn his way back into the lineup as Kyle Long and Jordan Mills both have seemingly locked up starting gigs as rookies.
Webb wasn’t the only one who was sent packing. QB Jordan Palmer, who was incredibly efficient in his starting role last night, was also let go, and also took to Twitter to break the news to fans:
Local
I really appreciate all the kind words from the #Bears fans but I'm headed home today. Crazy biz but appreciative pic.twitter.com/hbbmBw9Kl6 — Jordan Palmer (@JwPalms) August 30, 2013
The Bears’ decision to jettison Palmer indicates that there are a few different directions they could be taking. They could be simply deciding to go with two quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, and if that is the case, then they could still sign another quarterback to their practice squad, and to that effect, the Bears did work out several candidates this week at Halas Hall, including Jordan Rodgers (yes, it's Aaron Rodgers' little brother), Jerrod Johnson, and Alex Carder.
According to Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com, the Bears also cut wide receivers Brittan Golden and Josh Lenz on Friday, and also sent safeties Tom Nelson and Brandon Hardin on their way.
