Chester Taylor Remains a Bear... for Now

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 30, 2011 6:20PM

When the Bears made Chester Taylor a healthy scratch from las Saturday's game against the Titans, it appeared the writing was on the wall for the running back who was signed with such high hopes only a year ago. Marion Barber's solid preseason, the special teams play of Kahlil Bell and Taylor's rich contract have made him the odd man out in the Bears' running back depth chart. So perhaps it wasn't surprising when Lovie Smith told Taylor he "wasn't in the team's plans."

"Not in the plans" did not mean the running back was among those being cut on Monday to trim the team's roster to the league-mandated 80. Given Smith's statement and a Tweet from Taylor's agent, we can certainly see where there was a "misunderstanding" that resulted in Taylor leaving Halas Hall on Monday morning and word of his waiving made the rounds in the media. When his roster situation was clarified later in the day, he returned to the Bears' practice facility to meet with general manager Jerry Angelo and then was given the rest of the day off.

Taylor is expected to be at Bears practice today, but his time with the team is numbered. Angelo is most likely trying to work a trade for the running back, a former 1,000-yard rusher when was with the Minnesota Vikings. He was later paired in the Vikings' backfield with Adrian Peterson, but he just didn't compliment Matt Forte in the Bears' offense the same way. After averaging just 2.4 yards a carry last year, Angelo will be hard pressed to find a team willing to trade for a 32-year-old running back everybody knows will be available anyway in just a matter of days. Until then, he'll be sporting blue, orange and bubble wrap as the Bears just try to keep him healthy until they rid themselves of him one way or another.