LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears acquired defensive tackle Chris Williams and a 2025 seventh-round pick from the Cleveland Browns on Saturday in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
Williams is the second defenseman acquired in a trade in as many days by the Bears, who sent a sixth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks on Friday to acquire Darrell Taylor.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus expressed concern about the team’s defensive tackle depth after an injury to reserve Zach Pickens put the second-year tackle’s Week 1 eligibility in doubt.
The 26-year-old Williams spent the first two years of his career in Indianapolis, where Eberflus was the defensive coordinator, before spending time on the practice squads of Kansas City and Cleveland. He appeared in 13 games with the Colts, recording six tackles.
“I was productive when I was with him and I felt like I improved every year that I was with him,” Williams said. “I know his tactics are to attack, to be fast and to use my skill set, and that’s definitely something that I’m comfortable with with this tactic.”
Williams was listed as the fifth defensive tackle on Cleveland’s depth chart and was thought to be a tough candidate to make the roster. In his final preseason game with the Browns, Williams recorded two sacks, including one that led to a safety.
The seventh-round pick Chicago gave to Cleveland was originally acquired in the trade that sent wide receiver Chase Claypool to the Miami Dolphins in October. The Bears currently have seven picks in the 2025 draft: a first-round pick, two second-round picks (one from Carolina), a third-round pick, a fifth-round pick, a sixth-round pick (via Pittsburgh) and a seventh-round pick (via Cleveland).
Eberflus also discussed a trade for Taylor, believing his skill set would provide added flexibility to the Bears’ defensive line.
“I think he’s a different skill set than we have in terms of how he rushes,” Eberflus said of Taylor. “What I like most about him is his motor. He’s got a great motor. He finishes. He needs a little improvement at the top of the rush and we’re going to work on that, but he’s pursuing and executing everything that everybody else in the building is doing that we expect and hold our guys accountable for.”
The Bears’ search for an edge rusher to pair with Pro Bowl player Montez Sweat was detailed in the latest episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Chicago was set to send a third-round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for Matthew Judon, but was unable to work out terms on a contract extension with the 32-year-old outside linebacker and gave up on pursuing him further. Judon was ultimately traded to the Atlanta Falcons.
Taylor appeared in all 17 games and started five for Seattle in 2023. He played 44% of the team’s defensive snaps and recorded 5.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits.
When asked if Taylor would likely spend most of his time practicing opposite Sweat, Eberflus suggested the Bears will likely continue to rotate their edge rushers and starting defensive linemen.
“I think it’s going to be a rotation,” Eberflus said. “I really do. We’re going to use the guys who are in good form. I feel really good about all the guys we have right now. [Austin] Booker, Dom [Robinson] and [DeMarcus Walker] And then on the other hand, we have guys that are playing with Tez. So we just let them compete, see who’s hot and let them go for it.”
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.
