The Chicago Bears must cut their roster to 53 by 4 p.m. ET Saturday. Here’s a final 53-man roster projection:
QUARTERBACKS (3): Mike Glennon, Mitchell Trubisky, Mark Sanchez.
The Bears could keep two quarterbacks, but they seem to value Sanchez’s influence behind the scenes.
RUNNING BACKS (4): Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Jeremy Langford, Benny Cunningham.
Langford makes the 53 because Ka'Deem Carey underwent wrist surgery.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): Kevin White, Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright, Josh Bellamy, Deonte Thompson, Tanner Gentry.
Special teams matter. That’s why I kept both Bellamy and Thompson. Gentry earned a roster spot, in my opinion, based on his stellar preseason. Chicago probably didn’t see enough from Victor Cruz to keep him around.
TIGHT END (4): Dion Sims, Adam Shaheen, Ben Braunecker, Zach Miller.
I took Braunecker over Daniel Brown, again, because of special-teams value. Regardless, a good player is going to be cut at tight end.
OFFENSIVE LINE (8): Kyle Long, Josh Sitton, Bobby Massie, Charles Leno Jr., Cody Whitehair, Tom Compton, Hroniss Grasu, Will Poehls.
Backup offensive linemen have to be able to play multiple positions, which is why I went with Compton, Grasu and Poehls.
DEFENSIVE LINE (7): Akiem Hicks, Mitch Unrein, Jonathan Bullard, Jaye Howard, Eddie Goldman, John Jenkins, Roy Robertson-Harris.
Originally I predicted the Bears would keep six defensive linemen, but Robertson-Harris' strong camp convinced me to increase that number to seven.
LINEBACKERS (8): Pernell McPhee, Danny Trevathan, Willie Young, Leonard Floyd, Jerrell Freeman, Christian Jones, Nick Kwiatkoski, Lamarr Houston.
Dan Skuta is another linebacker the Bears like, but he’s been banged up. I kept Houston (even though he costs a lot more money) over Sam Acho because Houston has made big plays in the past. Although, Houston did suffer an injury in Thursday night's second half.
CORNERBACK (6): Prince Amukamara, Marcus Cooper, Kyle Fuller, Cre'Von LeBlanc, Bryce Callahan, Sherrick McManis.
The Bears have to keep Fuller after Amukamara went down with an ankle injury.
SAFETY (4): Quintin Demps, Adrian Amos, Eddie Jackson, Harold Jones-Quartey.
I left off Deiondre' Hall -- who can play both cornerback and safety -- because he suffered an apparent injury in the preseason finale. Jones-Quartey gets the nod over Deon Bush because his overall body of work is more consistent.
SPECIALISTS (3): Kicker Connor Barth, punter Pat O'Donnell, long-snapper Jeff Overbaugh.
The Bears could always claim a different kicker or long-snapper after the final cuts come down.