The Chicago Bears have waived 24-year-old defensive back Dontae Manning from injured reserve with an injury settlement, ending his contract with the club, via ESPN’s NFL transaction log.
The move, recorded this week, closes a short stay in Chicago for the Oregon product, who never appeared in a regular-season game for the Bears.
Manning had been waived with an injury designation on Aug. 30 as the team trimmed its roster to 53 players. He reverted to injured reserve after clearing waivers and was later released via settlement, a common path that lets a player seek another opportunity while the team sheds a cap charge.
Manning, born Sept. 17, 2001, in Kansas City, Missouri, is listed at about 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2025 after his college career at Oregon.
Atlanta waived him in late August 2025. Chicago signed him to the practice squad days later and then to a reserve/future contract on Jan. 20, 2026. That deal was a one-year pact worth $885,000 on paper, with a modest 2026 cap figure before the injury settlement.
He showed well enough in limited preseason work to stay in the conversation. Manning played in the Bears’ first two exhibition games and recorded 11 tackles (nine solo) plus two pass defenses.
An undisclosed injury then took him off the field as final cuts arrived. The Bears, building under general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson, elected not to keep him on the 53 or the practice squad once the settlement was completed.
For Manning, the settlement frees him to sign elsewhere if healthy enough. Undrafted defensive backs often bounce between practice squads and short-term deals; a productive preseason sample can still attract interest from teams needing depth in the secondary.
For Chicago, the transaction is housekeeping after a busy cut-down period that also included other injury settlements and IR placements.
The Bears open the 2026 season against the Carolina Panthers.
Manning will watch from outside the organization, looking for the next landing spot in what remains a young career defined so far by roster churn rather than regular-season snaps.
Injury settlements of this kind rarely make headlines, but they are a routine part of how NFL teams manage the 53-man limit and the salary cap while players try to stay in the league.
