Bears claim O-lineman Leatherwood off waivers

The Chicago Bears claimed offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday.

Leatherwood was one of an NFL-high six players claimed off waivers by the Bears.

Leatherwood, the Raiders’ 2021 first-round draft pick, was waived on Tuesday as Las Vegas trimmed to its initial 53-man roster.

Leatherwood, who was taken with the No. 17 overall pick out of Alabama to be the Raiders’ foundational right tackle, regressed in the preseason, and Las Vegas’ new regime of coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler had seen enough.

Leatherwood is scheduled to make $14.39 million fully guaranteed this season as part of his rookie contract.

He was considered a draft reach last season by many observers and struggled enough early in the season that he was moved from right tackle to right guard in Week 5.

He was moved back to right tackle in training camp and was competing with Brandon Parker before Parker went down with an arm injury in the Hall of Fame Game. But Leatherwood was supplanted by rookie seventh-rounder Thayer Munford Jr. and Jermaine Eluemunor, making him expendable since Leatherwood could not fulfill the role of a swing tackle, either.

Other players claimed off waivers by the Bears were DB Josh Blackwell (from Philadelphia Eagles), DE Kingsley Jonathan (from Buffalo Bills), DT Armon Watts (from Minnesota Vikings), LB Sterling Weatherford (from Indianapolis Colts) and TE Trevon Wesco (from New York Jets).

The Bears waived guard Zachary Thomas, defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga, linebacker Caleb Johnson and cornerback Duke Shelley, released linebacker Joe Thomas and placed receiver Tajae Sharpe on injured reserve in corresponding moves.

ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.

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