Bears Trying Out Three LBs Including Manti Te’o & Deone Bucannon

The Chicago Bears are bringing in three free agent linebackers for tryouts this week including Deone Bucannon, Justin Phillips, and Manti Te’o, according to Aaron Wilson.

Regarding Te’o, this is the first reported interest in him since last year.

Te’o, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Chargers back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year rookie contract before agreeing to a two-year, $5 million deal with the Saints in 2017. 

Te’o returned to the Saints last year and finished out the season in New Orleans. 

For his career, Te’o has appeared in 62 games for the Chargers and Saints and recorded 304 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble, a recovery and 13 passes defended over the course of seven seasons.

Bucannon, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $7,709,200 contract when the Cardinals picked up his fifth-year option.

Bucannon left Arizona as an unrestricted free agent last year and signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers. He was released last season and later signed by the Giants to finish out the season. 

The Falcons signed him to a contract back in May but cut him loose and added him to the practice squad last month. However, Atlanta cut him from their taxi squad last week. 

In 2019, Bucannon appeared in 14 games for the Buccaneers and Giants, totaling 26 tackles and no interceptions.

We have him included in our Top 50 NFL Free Agents list.