Mathieu Belanger/Laval
TORONTO — According to TSN’s Dave Naylor, the Chicago Bears have released linebacker Jameer Thurman and defensive lineman Mathieu Betts.
Saturday is cutdown day in the NFL, as teams south of the border make their final roster decisions following the conclusion of the pre-season.
CFL.ca is keeping tabs on all of Saturday’s moves with the NFL cut tracker.
Betts, 24, was the third overall pick by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2019 CFL Draft. He was the top-ranked prospect in two of the league’s three annual Scouting Bureau Rankings, including the pre-draft version released in April.
Mathieu Betts was the top-ranked prospect going into last year’s draft (Yan Doublet/Laval)
The risk was well understood with Betts, who had drawn NFL interest before the draft. But Eskimos GM Brock Sunderland and Head Coach Jason Maas knew the upside was too high to ignore.
“He was the number one guy on our board,” said Maas following the draft. “All the film study we did on him — he’s powerful, he’s speed to power, he gets around the edge, he’s athletic. There are a lot of special qualities about him. I don’t think there’s anything not to like about the guy.”
“The first thing is his quickness off the ball,” echoed Sunderland, who oversaw his third draft as the Eskimos’ general manager. “He wins a lot of matchups right off the snap. He’s got a high, high motor. He’s relentless and he’s got a skill-set and a repertoire of a pass rush moves.”
Thurman, a 24-year-old linebacker from Chicago, helped the Stampeders win a Grey Cup in 2018, making 82 tackles, two sacks and an interception in just his second CFL season.
The departure of Thurman and Canadian Alex Singleton left two holes in the Stampeders’ linebacker core, but both players have been released by their respective NFL teams.
Despite being released, there’s no guarantee these players make their way north of the border this season. There’s still a chance of catching on with other NFL teams or signing practice roster agreements.
Jordan Williams-Lambert, Diontae Spencer, Sam Eguavoen and Brandon Zylstra are other players to keep an eye on as teams make their moves on Saturday.
