Bears Cut Jeremiah Attaochu, Sign Mike Pennel

Mike Pennel is back, and Jeremiah Attaochu is gone.

On Monday, less than a week after Attaochu said he felt he could make the transition to defensive end in a 4-3 from stand-up edge linebacker in a 3-4, the Bears cut him. They will get a bit of cap relief from the move.

They replaced him on the roster by signing Pennel, a 6-foot-4, 330-pound nose tackle who was signed last June and the didn't make the final roster.

This time Pennel would seem to have a better chance of making the roster because he played in Kansas City as a backup in 2019 and 2020 when Bears GM Ryan Poles was with the Chiefs.

The Falcons had signed Pennel last October after the Bears cut him but he had just a one-year contract. Pennel has started 16 games and played in 101 in eight NFL seasons without ever being a full-time starter. His high for starts was seven and it came in New York with the Jets in 2018 while playing end in a 3-4 under coach Todd Bowles.

Pennel has played in both 4-3 and 3-4 systems 176 with tackles and two career sacks.

The Bears do have a need for depth at nose tackle because their starter at nose is Angelo Blackson, who is a lifetime 3-4 player, and the backup is second-year player Khyiris Tonga.

Attaochu suffered a torn pectoral muscle five games into last season and had little chance to fulfull the task former GM Ryan Pace brought him to Chicago for -- backing up Robert Quinn and Khalil Mack.

"I'm definitely excited about this scheme," Attaochu said last week. "I get to do one job and that's get off the ball, get in a track stance and use my athleticism."

Attaochu, who had been an alternate union rep, will have to try it somewhere else now because he Bears have a deep group at defensive end.

They are expected to finally get a look at two of those players as Quinn and Al-Quadin Muhammad are expected to be at this minicamp after missing offseason voluntary work. Muhammad did come to Halas Hall last week but wasn't able to start practicing.

The cap relief the Bears get by cutting Attaochu is $2.35 million according to Overthecap.com, but his departure also creates $750,000 more in dead cap space. So they net $1.6 million in cap space.