With concerns about their depth at inside linebacker, the Bears will sign veteran Alec Ogletree, a source said.
Ogletree, 29, is going into his ninth season. He played two games for the Jets in 2020 and went unsigned after they cut him mid-season. He will be in competition for a backup spot behind Bears mainstays Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan.
The Rams drafted Ogletree out of Georgia in the first round, and he was second-team all-pro for them in 2016 with 136 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble. He followed that with two solid seasons before falling to 80 tackles for the Giants in 2019 and his unproductive stint with the Jets.
Neither of the Bears’ second-stringers at the position, Josh Woods and Joel Iyiegbuniwe, have established themselves as dependable on defense and play mainly on special teams. Both played less than 5% of the defensive snaps last season.
