Lake Forest, Ill.– Less than 24 hours after trading away star pass rusher Khalil Mack, Chicago Bears first-year general manager Ryan Poles wasted no time on Friday afternoon, making more veteran cuts. Around noon, ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the team was set to move on from running back Tarik Cohen, and hours later, news of Eddie Goldman’s release would follow.
Moving on from Goldman and Cohen brings signals, even more, change for the Bears organization. The Bears are now Poles team and the serious yet stoic 36-year old GM is fit to do whatever he pleases with the Bears roster. Chicago will now look forward to an offseason that will be more about building the foundation for years to come, rather than trying to compete in 2022.
Cohen, a 2017 fourth-round pick missed the entire 2021 season after rehabbing a torn ACL that he sustained returning a punt during week three of the 2020 season in a road game against the Atlanta Falcons. The move will save the Bears roughly $2.2M in cap space but incur a dead cap charge of $3.5M for the 2022 offseason. His career in Chicago comes to an end after 22 starts, 1575 receiving yards, and 13 total touchdowns.
Goldman, a 2015 second-round pick and the third longest-tenured Bears entering the 2021 season, opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19. When Goldman returned to the team in 2021, there was uncertainty about whether or not he would play but would end up starting 10 games in 2021. His time with the Bears finishes after seven seasons, starting 73 total games.
As the Bears get ready to rebuild the roster, Poles’ message is clear by moving on from Goldman and Cohen. The Bears aren’t expected to be competitive in 2022 and the franchise is already looking ahead to 2023, with the vision being to build around second-year quarterback Justin Fields.