The Chicago Bears are looking abroad for the next potential international diamond in the rough, bringing in a pair of players from Australia.
The Bears are set to start training camp, with rookies reporting on July 25, and the team’s veterans set to follow suit on July 28. Their first practice of this year’s training camp will be on July 29, and it could include the two Aussies.
They would be difficult to miss.
Bears Show Interest in Big-Bodied Rugby Duo
Rugby Players Kaylan Faumui and Ben Te Kura Get Bears Tryout
The Bears are coming off a resurgent season in 2025. It was their first under head coach Ben Johnson. Among other things, the play of their offensive line keyed the effort.
They are exploring every avenue to maintain a healthy pipeline before camp.
“A fun tryout day for the #Bears: Chicago hosted two former rugby players,” Sleeper’s Arye Pulli reported in a post on X on July 24. “6-foot-8, 350-pound IOL Kaylan Faumui and 6-foot-9 OT Ben Te Kura.
“Te Kura, Australia’s tallest National Rugby League player, also recently worked out with the #Seahawks.”
Both players are part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program.
Faumui drew attention from the Samoa Global News as the only Samoan among the 13 participants in this year’s crop of IPP NFL hopefuls. This was his second year attempting to make the cut.
“Te Kura’s agent compared him to Jordan Mailata, who went from playing rugby in Australia to becoming one of the best left tackles in the NFL,” Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith wrote on July 2. For Australian rugby players who have the talent to make it in the NFL, the financial incentives to make the move are enormous: Mailata is on a three-year, $66 million contract. The highest-paid player in the National Rugby League makes a little under $1 million USD a year.
“Expecting Te Kura to become as good a player as Mailata may be unrealistic, but Te Kura certainly has enough potential that he’ll have plenty of NFL teams interested in his services.”
IPP players can be signed without counting against a team’s total, but they are limited to one such exemption.
The Bears have used their exemption on punter Tory Taylor over the past two years, which could set up some interesting roster juggling for general manager Ryan Poles if they like what they see from Faumui and Te Kura.
Bears OL Remains a Strength Despite Uncertainty
Faumui and Te Kura are long shots to make the Bears’ 53-man roster. They could find their way to the practice squad, though. The Bears’ offensive line remains a position of strength, despite uncertainty after a couple of key changes.
Center Drew Dalman retired, forcing the Bears to replace him. They traded for veteran Garrett Bradbury and then drafted Logan Jones.
Left tackle Ozzy Trapilo ruptured his patellar tendon in January.
He is expected to miss most of the 2026 season, if not the whole thing. Former starter Braxton Jones is vying for the job. He is in a competition with former Cleveland Browns first-round pick and starter Jedrick Wills.
Being without two intended starters is a blow. However, the Bears have afforded themselves the luxury of turning to experienced players, at least in the interim.
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