Bears agree to deal with Titans DE DeMarcus Walker

Updated Mar. 14, 2023 11:56 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bears have added help on the defensive line, agreeing to a deal with former Tennessee Titans defensive end DeMarcus Walker.

Walker tweeted that he has an agreement in place with Chicago.

Former Seattle Seahawks running back Travis Homer agreed to a two-year deal with Chicago worth as much as $4.5 million, agent Spencer Cannold said Tuesday night.

The Bears announced a two-year contract extension with fullback Khari Blasingame through the 2025 season and a one-year extension with long snapper Patrick Scales on Tuesday. Offensive lineman Dieter Eiselen — an exclusive rights free agent — signed a one-year deal.

Walker is coming off his best year, with a career-high seven sacks in his lone season with the Titans. He played for Denver from 2017 to 2020 and Houston in 2021.

The Bears sorely needed help on the defensive line after finishing with a league-worst 20 sacks, their lowest total since the 2003 team had 18. A safety — Jaquan Brisker — led them with four sacks, and no lineman had more than three.

Homer has run for 453 yards and one touchdown in four seasons with Seattle. The Seahawks drafted him in the sixth round in 2019.

Blasingame played in 16 games and helped block for a ground attack that led the league with a franchise-record 3,014 yards rushing. Scales is entering his eighth season with the Bears, and Eiselen originally signed with Chicago as an undrafted free agent out of Yale in 2020.

The Bears also have agreements in place with Buffalo Bills two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards and former Tennessee guard Nate Davis, according to people familiar with their situations.

The Bears set a franchise record for losses while finishing with a league-worst 3-14 record. But they’ve made some big moves since the end of the season.

The Bears agreed Friday to trade the No. 1 overall pick in the draft to Carolina, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. Chicago addressed a big need for a playmaker to help quarterback Justin Fields by acquiring star receiver D.J. Moore from the Panthers along with the No. 9 and No. 61 overall picks in 2023, a first-rounder in 2024 and a second-rounder in 2025.

The Bears also hired Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren as team president in January and last month purchased a 326-acre plot of land in suburban Arlington Heights that the organization has been sizing up for a new enclosed stadium.

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