The Raiders waived former first-round pick Alex Leatherwood on Tuesday in a somewhat surprising move. But it didn’t take Leatherwood too long to find a home as he was claimed by the Chicago Bears on Wednesday.
That news was first reported by Field Yates of ESPN:
The Bears have claimed former Raiders OL Alex Leatherwood.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 31, 2022
The Bears had interest in Leatherwood during the 2021 NFL Draft, but they moved up in the first round for Justin Fields. They ended up selecting Teven Jenkins in the second round, who was rumored to be on the trade block earlier this week.
The good news for the Raiders here is that this will help with some of the offset money in Leatherwood’s contract. How much? According to Spotrac, that will save the Raiders about $5.9 million in dead cap space and cash. So needless to say, the Bears helped out the Raiders quite a bit here.
Leatherwood now has a chance to resurrect his career in Chicago, protecting Fields. For his sake, let’s hope he is able to turn things around with the Bears.
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