After an All-UFL season, the Bears sign an experienced player. The former Browns draft pick brings veteran depth as the Bears finalize their training camp roster.
The Chicago Bears are making moves now that mandatory minicamp has concluded.
Minicamp ended on June 11, with training camp as the final step before preseason and the season opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 13.
UFL analyst Michael Del Negro reported on Monday that the Bears are signing former Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams linebacker Tony Fields II. He was most recently with the Columbus Aviators in the UFL.
Fields just had a solid season in the UFL in 2026, finishing with 77 total tackles, one sack and five TFLs.
The Browns drafted him in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft after splitting time in college between the Arizona Wildcats (2017-19) and West Virginia Mountaineers (2020).
He had to work his way into the linebacker rotation in Cleveland at first, playing in 10 games as a rookie. Fields then played a full 17-game season in 2022 with six starts, recording 48 total tackles, one interception, one TFL, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Fields played another full season the following year and started four games, ending with 34 total tackles, one fumble recovery and a fumble return for a touchdown.
The 2024 season came to an abrupt end for Fields in Week 1 after suffering an ankle injury that knocked him out for the year. He was later released by the Browns in October of that season.
Fields spent his final season on the Browns as a Will linebacker behind Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
Fields had a short stint with the Rams shortly after being released. He was signed to the Los Angeles practice squad but didn't make it past roster cuts in August of 2024.
He then joined the Aviators in 2026 and was named to the All-UFL Team this season.
He joins a linebacker room in Chicago that contains Devin Bush, Noah Sewell, T.J. Edwards, Keyshaun Elliott, D'Marco Jackson, Nephi Sewell, Ruben Hyppolite II, Jack Sanborn, Jon Rattigan, Dominique Hampton and Wayne Matthews III.
It's uncertain whether he'll be a member of the Bears' practice squad or a rotational player. The question is who the Bears will waive to make room for him?
Chicago did some shuffling at linebacker this offseason, releasing Amen Ogbongbemiga and Tremaine Edmunds to make cap room for free agency.
The projected starters at linebacker ahead of training camp are Jackson, Bush and Edwards. Edwards and Sewell are coming off late-season injuries in 2025, but should be expected to reprise their starting roles once healthy.
Edwards suffered a fractured fibula in the 31-27 comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card, and Sewell is coming off a torn Achilles versus the Detroit Lions in the regular-season finale.
It seems that a Bears player may be waived in the near future to make room for Fields as we inch closer to training camp.
