Tag: Bear Down

Chicago Bears injury opens door for pair of former Notre Dame linemen

An injury on the Chicago Bears offensive line has opened the door for not one but two former Notre Dame offensive linemen. Details here.

Neither Alex Bars or Sam Mustipher were drafted by an NFL team when their Notre Dame careers ended after the 2018 season, but both wound up inking free agent deals with the Chicago Bears.

Bars wound up getting promoted to the Bears active roster late last season while Mustipher remained on the practice squad.

Due to an unfortunate injury to Bears lineman and former second round pick James Daniels that was sustained this past Thursday, now Bars moves up to replace the void on the offensive line left by Daniels and Mustipher gets promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.

If it seems like an oddity that both wound up signing free agent deals with the Bears remember that at the time, former Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand was coaching the Bears offensive line and had the obvious connections to both Bars and Mustipher.

All the best to both in the blue and orange.

Former Notre Dame Five-Star Recruit Signs with Jacksonville Jaguars

Remember Aaron Lynch’s brief Notre Dame career? The former prized recruit and impact freshman just signed a new deal with the NFL’s Jaguars

Quick – do you remember Aaron Lynch’s career at Notre Dame?  If you blinked you very possibly may have missed it because he transfered to South Florida after just one season where there were certainly flashes of brilliance for the former five-star recruit.

Lynch played in 12 games his one season at Notre Dame in 2011, recording a team-high 5.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hurries.  It’s almost scary to think about what might have been had he been on the 2012 defensive line with as great as that group was.

The former top-ten national recruit went on to play at South Florida in 2013 after having to sit out 2012 due to transferring.  He then declared for the 2014 NFL Draft where the San Francisco 49ers eventually took him with the 150th overall pick.

Fast-forward six years down the road and Aaron Lynch has signed a new deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars after spending the last two years with the Chicago Bears.

Terms of Lynch’s deal in Jacksonville were not yet announced.  Lynch has recorded 20 sacks in his 73 game NFL career to date and for the second time in his football career now finds himself leaving the mid-west to play for a Florida based football team.