39 locks for the Bears' 53-man roster

The Chicago Bears have officially wrapped the 2024 preseason, and now general manager Ryan Poles has some important decisions to make in trimming the roster down to 53 players by Tuesday's deadline.

For the most part, the Bears roster is set with returning veterans and high-profile rookies. But there have been a number of jobs and spots up for grabs, which brought out the best in some roster-bubble player looking to make the cut. Unfortunately, not all will. But those are decisions Poles has to make.

With the Bears' preseason in the books and roster cutdowns looming, here's a look at the virtual roster locks for the 53-man roster:

Quarterback

• Caleb Williams

• Tyson Bagent

Williams and Bagent have been locks for the roster for some time. The only question is whether or not they'll carry a third between Brett Rypien or rookie Austin Reed.

Running back

• D'Andre Swift

• Khalil Herbert

• Roschon Johnson

• Khari Blasingame

Chicago's running back group is deep between Swift, Herbert and Johnson, as well as at fullback with Blasingame. But there's likely one or two more spots up for grabs between Travis Homer and Velus Jones Jr., who could make it either as a running back or receiver. Rookie Ian Wheeler landed on IR with an ACL injury.

Wide receiver

• DJ Moore

• Keenan Allen

• Rome Odunze

• Tyler Scott

Moore, Allen and Odunze are easy locks for the roster, and Scott feels like a safe bet for WR4 at this point. That leaves potentially two spots up for grabs, where special teams will play a key role. Whether it's Jones, Dante Pettis, DeAndre Carter and Collin Johnson.

Tight end

• Cole Kmet

• Gerald Everett

• Marcedes Lewis

The tight end group has been set for a while since Lewis was re-signed, where he'll join Kmet and Everett in a deep veteran group.

Offensive line

• Teven Jenkins

• Darnell Wright

• Braxton Jones

• Nate Davis

• Ryan Bates

• Coleman Shelton

• Kiran Amegadjie

The starting offensive line and immediate reserves all appear set at this point, but there are still some depth roles up for grabs, depending on how many offensive linemen they carry. Some contenders for those final spots include Matt Pryor, Larry Borom, Jake Curhan and Ja'Tyre Carter.

Edge rusher

• Montez Sweat

• DeMarcus Walker

• Austin Booker

• Darrell Taylor

Sweat and Walker have been locks for some time, and Booker's strong preseason made him an easy addition to the roster. The Bears just traded for Taylor, so that's pretty much a guarantee he makes the roster. There could be one roster spot up for grabs, and it feels like it's Daniel Hardy's.

Defensive tackle

• Andrew Billings

• Gervon Dexter

• Zacch Pickens

Billings, Dexter and Pickens are the only guarantees along the defensive interior. Eberflus mentioned the depth at defensive tackle with Pickens currently sidelined is "concerning." So it wouldn't be a surprise to see them trade for one or monitor the waiver wire.

Linebacker

• Tremaine Edmunds

• T.J. Edwards

• Jack Sanborn

The Bears have a strong starting linebacker group with Edmunds, Edwards and Sanborn. That leaves two roster spots up for grabs between Noah Sewell, Amen Ogbongbemiga and Micah Baskerville.

Cornerback

• Jaylon Johnson

• Tyrique Stevenson

• Kyler Gordon

• Terell Smith

Chicago's cornerback group is a deep one, which should make things interesting when it comes to the final roster spots. Johnson, Stevenson, Gordon and Smith are all locks, but those final spots will come down to Josh Blackwell, Jaylon Jones, Reddy Steward and Greg Stroman.

Safety

• Jaquan Brisker

• Kevin Byard

Brisker and Byard are the only true locks at safety, although Jonathan Owens and Elijah Hicks feel like safe bets to also make it.

Special teams

• Cairo Santos

• Tory Taylor

• Patrick Scales

There's no mystery surrounding the Bears' core trio of specialists, where Santos, Taylor and Scales are all guaranteed to make the roster.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 39 locks for the Chicago Bears' 53-man roster