In just a matter of hours, the Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL teams will whittle their rosters down to 53 players as they prepare for the regular season. That will leave hundreds of NFL athletes without a team, and they’ll hit the waiver wire with an opportunity to be picked up by a new one. When they do, the Bears will be waiting as they have first dibs at the top of the waiver order.
Just like they had the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft thanks to having the worst record in the league, the Bears also have the first waiver spot and will keep it until Week 3 of the regular season concludes. Then, waivers will be determined by the current league records, with the worst team getting the first spot.
Last year, the Bears had the seventh spot, but that didn’t stop general manager Ryan Poles from putting in quite a few claims for players. In 2022, the Bears led the league with six waiver claims on the first day (seven in total). Will Poles top that number this year as he looks to strengthen the roster?
Before we dive into possible waiver claims for this year, let’s look back to see how the 2022 waiver claims fared throughout the season.