Bears acquire defensive lineman from Cleveland Browns Originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears On Saturday, for the second day in a row, the team acquired a defensive lineman. 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 additional depth in the middle of the line as Zacch Pickens’ status remains unclear. Pickens left practice early last week and has not participated in team drills since. The expectation was that Pickens would be considered a rotation player on the interior of the line this year. Other than him, there aren’t many other options for the team. The group consists of fourth-year player Byron Cowart, second-year player Michael Dwumfour and a trio of rookie UDFAS in Jaylon Hutchings, Dashaun Mallory and Keith Randolph Jr. Not many of those players are expected to make the 53-man roster when the team is cut to 90 players on Tuesday.
Williams is entering his third NFL season, but he doesn’t have much experience as a player. He’s played in 13 games, but he only has 107 defensive snaps under his belt. However, Williams does have experience under head coach Matt Eberflus. 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 joined the team in 2021. Williams didn’t play in a game last season, but he went through training camp with the Chiefs.
In his 13 games, Williams had 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.