After just one year in Chicago, Bears fast receiver/returner Dazz Newsome will hit the open market. Chicago waived the second-year gap Tuesday as part of reaching the mandatory 80-player roster reduction.
Newsome caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in Chicago’s first preseason game, a 19-14 win over the Chiefs. He caught one of his two targets for 14 yards in the Bears’ second preseason game, a 27-11 win over the Seahawks.
Despite his production, Newsome was clearly lost in shuffling a relatively deep Bears receiving corps that also includes Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, Byron Pringle, N’Keal Harry, Velus Jones Jr. and Dante Pettis.
Newsome, 23, played collegiately at North Carolina, where he caught 188 passes for 2,435 yards and 18 touchdowns in four seasons. His best season was in 2019, when he caught 72 passes for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also returned 48 punts, including a 75-yard return for a score in a 2018 game against Syracuse.
Newsome received another draft hub when he ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the 2021 NFL Combine. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Bears, who rarely used Newsome as a receiver during his brief stay in Chicago. Newsome will now be looking to use his speed and all-around skill on a different franchise. The Bears releasing Newsome now will give him some time to catch up with a new club before the start of the regular season.
