The Chicago Bears are working to narrow their roster to 53 players by the 3 p.m. Tuesday deadline.

Here are the most recent moves as the Bears assemble their roster and practice squad for the regular season.

The Bears are releasing backup quarterback Nathan Peterman, NFL Network reported.

The Bears already cut ties with quarterback P.J. Walker, whom they signed to a two-year, $4.15 million contract in the spring. Now they are cutting Peterman, leaving only undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent on the roster as the backup to Justin Fields.

Coach Matt Eberflus said there is value to having a more experienced quarterback in the room to go with Bagent and Fields, who is entering his third season. So it’s possible the Bears will try to bring back Peterman on the practice squad or bring in another option with experience.

Eberflus wasn’t ready to declare Bagent the backup Tuesday, saying the Bears were “letting the roster finalize itself” before he would discuss it.

Peterman has been in the NFL since 2017 and was the Bears’ third-string quarterback last year. He played in three games and made one start in 2022.

The Bears are waiving seventh-round draft picks Travis Bell and Kendall Williamson.

Both Bell, a defensive tackle, and Williams, a safety, had too many players in front of them to gain a roster spot. But they could return on the practice squad.

Bell, whom the Bears drafted with the No. 218 pick out of FCS Kennesaw State, had six tackles and a half-sack in the preseason. Williamson, the No. 258 pick from Stanford, had six tackles, a tackle for a loss and a pass defended.

The Bears are cutting running back Trestan Ebner, a source said.

The Bears are expected to waive/injured Ebner, a sixth-round pick in 2022 who has been in concussion protocol since the preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans. Ebner had a strong offseason and was viewed as a candidate to make the roster even at a deep position, but the injury made things difficult for him.

He appeared in all 17 games as a rookie, getting 24 carries for 54 yards and catching two passes for 8 yards. He was a regular on special teams with 173 snaps and had 10 kickoff returns and three tackles.

The Bears also are expected to waive running back/fullback Robert Burns, tight end Stephen Carlson, offensive linemen Aviante Collins and Roy Mbaeteka and linebacker DeMarquis Gates, according to sources. All five are candidates to be re-signed to the practice squad.

The Bears are cutting wide receivers Daurice Fountain and Nsimba Webster, sources said.

Fountain and Webster led the Bears in receiving in preseason games. Fountain made seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, and Webster had seven catches for 71 yards. Webster also can serve as a returner.

But the wide receivers room is too crowded above them. The Bears have DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool at the top, followed by Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr. and Equanimeous St. Brown.

Webster has been with the Bears since 2021, bouncing on and off the practice squad, and Fountain joined their practice squad midway through the 2022 season. So perhaps either will stick around in that capacity.

Other offensive players who have been cut are linemen Kellen Diesch and Robert Haskins and tight end Lachlan Pitts.

The Bears are cutting cornerback Michael Ojemudia, a source said.

The Bears claimed Ojemudia off waivers in December, and he played in one game. In the preseason, he led the Bears with four passes defended and had seven tackles.

But the Bears increased their depth at cornerback when they drafted Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith to add to a group that already included starters Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. So that pushed Ojemudia farther down the depth chart.

The Bears also are waiving defensive tackle Andrew Brown and linebackers Davion Taylor and Barrington Wade. Defensive lineman D’Anthony Jones also reportedly is on his way out.

The Bears have informed quarterback P.J. Walker of his release.

Walker signed a two-year, $4.15 million deal with the team in March, expected to become the backup to Justin Fields heading into the regular season. That contract included a little more than $2 million guaranteed. But Walker’s struggles through training camp and the preseason coupled with the surprise emergence of undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent convinced the Bears to move in a new direction.

Walker finished the preseason having completed 11 of 23 passes for 96 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Bears gave Bagent the majority of the work in the final preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, with coach Matt Eberflus saying they wanted to see how Bagent performed with the second-string offense.

They left the fourth quarter for Walker, who completed 6 of 11 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

“I’ve had my struggles this preseason, but at the end of the day, it’s just me trying to find ways to get back to playing my game and doing what I do,” Walker said after the game. “I felt good. Any opportunity is the best opportunity. So for me, I wanted to go out there and take advantage of the tests I had, no matter what quarter it was, first, second, third or fourth.”

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Walker joined the Bears after playing in 15 NFL games with the Carolina Panthers over the last three seasons. He spent time with the Indianapolis Colts practice squad and in the XFL before joining the Panthers, where he completed 131 of 228 passes for 1,461 yards, five touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Bears coaches said Walker’s experience in the league would be valuable to the quarterback room, but Bagent made a case throughout the preseason for the Bears to take a deeper look at what he can do.

It will now be interesting to see whether the Bears choose to keep Nathan Peterman around on the practice squad to retain a veteran presence behind Fields in the quarterbacks room.

Offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood has been waived.

A first-round pick in 2021, Leatherwood was cut by the Las Vegas Raiders at the end of the preseason a year ago.

The Bears made a low-risk claim hoping to revive his NFL career. But Leatherwood has struggled over the past year to secure a significant role and, even amid the team’s current injury woes on the offensive line, didn’t do enough to make the team’s initial 53-man roster. Leatherwood is still owed just more than $4.5 million guaranteed, which the Bears will be responsible for.

The team must also sort through its current issues on the offensive line to identify the likely starting quintet for Week 1 plus quality depth behind that.

Offensive lineman Gabe Houy has been waived with an injury designation.

Houy was an undrafted rookie out of Pitt who left Saturday’s preseason game on a cart. If he clears waivers as expected, he will revert to injured reserve status on Wednesday. It would not be a surprise if the Bears offered him an injury settlement in the near future.

Originally Published: Aug 27, 2023 at 6:58 pm