Bears Waive Wide Receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette

The Bears made a move to shake up their struggling wide receiver unit on Tuesday by waving Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The former Viking was targeted just four times this season and had only a single reception for 15 yards against Minnesota.

That catch turned out to be very costly, as Smith-Marsette was stripped of the ball by the Vikings Cameron Dantzler, ending the Bears potential game-tying drive in the final two minutes. It appears the last straw was a dropped pass on a 4th and 16 late in the loss against Washington.

To fill the spot in the roster, Chicago has promoted Isaiah Coulter from the practice squad. The third year wide receiver from Rhode Island has played four career games in the NFL, including three for the Bears in 2021 and has yet to catch a pass as a pro.

Anything would be an improvement over Chicago’s dreadful 737 passing yards which is easily dead last in the NFL. Only 461 of the yards come from the wide receiver position, which is less than 8 individual players in the league right now.

Clearly, General Manager Ryan Poles will have to make pass catchers a top priority this off-season. Any moves to add players before the upcoming trade deadline seem unlikely, so, it’s probably going to be a rough ride the rest of the way for quarterback Justin Fields.