The 2012 NFL regular season is upon us. However this joyful piece of news sits hand in hand with the murky under belly of football. Across the NFL, roster cuts are being made in order for all teams to hit the 75 man, 4pm ET Monday deadline.
The Chicago Bears made 12 roster moves yesterday, bringing their personnel count down to 76 men. Rumors have been rife since then that the final roster cut before the Monday deadline, will be in the shape of fullback Harvey Unga.
Unga was a 7th round pick in the 2010 Supplemental Draft. He was brought in at a time when the Bears didn’t have the depth they currently have at the RB/FB positions.
It has become apparent that not only was Unga not present at practice Sunday, but that his locker had also been emptied. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that Unga disappeared from the Bears training facility.
Last season Unga was placed on the reserve/left squad list, in order to deal with some personal problems after he had disappeared from preseason training twice to deal with personal issues. The season before he was given a redshirt by coach Lovie Smith.
It does strike me a relatively strange that the Bears have announced every roster cut other than Unga, as it has become widely accepted that he will not be playing with the Bears for much longer.
In truth, the writing has been on the wall for Unga ever since Mike Tice was bumped up to Offensive Coordinator, after Mike Martz “retired” from the position following the conclusion to the 2011 NFL regular season.
Tice prefers to use four tight ends as opposed to three TE and one FB. In truth as I have already eluded to in a previous article (click here), veteran FB Tyler Clutts is going to struggle to make the team when 53 man roster is finalized 9pm ET Friday. So the odds were never staked in Unga’s favor.
Of course you don’t help your cause much when your none existent blocking against the New York Giants, leads to a blocked punt on the Bears’ much coveted special teams unit.
It will be interesting to see when the Bears do finally announce their last Monday roster cut, and if it is Unga who indeed loses his spot on the team.
Stay tuned all week for regular roster updates and more NFL roster cuts. Also follow me online on twitter at alibud69, or like my facebook page for up to the minute article postings.
