Bears trade for defensive lineman from Cleveland Browns

Bears trade for defensive lineman from Cleveland Browns originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears traded for a defensive lineman for the second day in a row, on Saturday. The team sent a sixth-round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for defensive tackle Chris Williams and a seventh-round pick.

Williams gives the team extra depth in the middle of the line, with Zacch Pickens’ status still unclear. Pickens left practice early last week and hasn’t participated in team drills since. The expectation was that Pickens would be counted on as a rotational player on the interior of the line this year. Besides him, there aren’t many other options for the team. The group is comprised of fourth-year player Byron Cowart, second-year player Michael Dwumfour and a trio of rookie UDFAS, Jaylon Hutchings, Dashaun Mallory and Keith Randolph Jr. Not many of those players are expected to make it to the 53-man roster when the team cuts down to 90 players on Tuesday.

Williams is entering his third NFL season, but he doesn’t have a ton of playing experience. He’s played in 13 games, but just has 107 defensive snaps under his belt. Williams does have experience with head coach Matt Eberflus, though. They spent two years together in Indianapolis in 2020 and 2021. Eberflus was the Colts defensive coordinator at the time. Williams was a UDFA in 2020 who spent the year on the practice squad, then made the team in 2021. Williams did not play in a game last season, but he went through training camp with the Chiefs.

Over his 13 games, Williams notched six tackles and one QB hit.

On Friday, the Bears sent another sixth-round pick to the Seahawks to bring in defensive end Darrell Taylor.

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