Bears Roster Cutdown Castoff Clears Air on Trade Rumor

Bears Trade Rumor

The Chicago Bears trimmed their roster down to 53 players at the August 29 deadline as mandated by the league.

Among their notable cuts was fourth-year EDGE rusher Trevis Gipson. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on August 26, Gipson “received permission” to seek out a trade. But the Bears former fifth-round pick took to social media to apparently clear the air over the trade rumor. It was the second part of a two-tweet goodbye message to the fans of Chicago.

“I never requested a trade,” Gipson tweeted following his release. He was heading into the final year of his contract and expressed optimism for the future.

Trevis Gipson Denies Trade Rumor After Bears Exit

Trevis Gipson ‘Looking Forward’ to Next Step

“Bears Nation, I have been released and now looking forward to my next step,” Gipson tweeted. “I appreciate all the love and support/memories!! Thank you to the fullest! Much love to the city of Chicago and you’ll forever have a spot in my heart!“

Head coach Matt Eberflus said that his method was to be upfront with players on where they stood before cutdowns. He had nothing but good things to say about Gipson when first asked about the latter’s request.

“I’m not going to really comment on that because I don’t know much about that,” Eberflus said on August 26. “I know that just came out but I can just say this: Trevis is an outstanding young man, and he works his tail off, and he’s he’s been great since we’ve been here.”

Defensive coordinator Alan Williams spoke to the media on August 27.

He did not have any thoughts on it beyond platitudes for Gipson, including lauding his forced fumble in Week 3 versus the Buffalo Bills, his second sack of the exhibition season.

“I like his play, I like the man, I like the player. Brings energy, productive,” Williams said”

He told the media he was feeling “good” coming into this season and even shrugged off chatter that the Bears were looking to add a pass rusher, which they did in Yannick Ngakoue.

“I’m more confident,” Gipson said on July 29. “I’m appreciative for the parts of my game that got exposed, as hard as that is to say. But I’m an honest man, and that’s how it is. When you get a weakness exposed, you have no other choice but to strengthen it. And that gives me confidence going into this year, knowing, especially, that I put in the work.”

Bears’ Yannick Ngakoue Offers Insight on Trevis Gipson, Dominique Robinson

Gipson, 26, finished the preseason as the Bears’ highest-graded defender, per Pro Football Focus, though he worked almost exclusively against backups, putting a damper on an otherwise impressive 2.0 sacks, 2.0 quarterback hits, and 10 hurries in three games.

The 6-foot-4, 263-pounder recorded 3.0 sacks in 17 games with 10 starts for the Bears last season. It was an admittedly disappointing year considering he flashed with 7.0 sacks as a third rusher behind Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn the year before.

Bears Cutdown Round-Up

The Bears’ other notable deadline cuts included Kindle Vildor, one of the few holdovers from the previous front office regime, and seventh-round rookies Travis Bell and Kendall Williamson.

Chicago added Rasheem Green and DeMarcus Walker in free agency too, and Los Angeles Rams pass rusher Terrell Lewis finished with the 10th-highest grade after recording three sacks and two forced fumbles.