The Chicago Bears have released veteran wide receiver and return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud from injured reserve with an injury settlement, via the NFL transaction log. It ends his brief tenure in Chicago just days after the team set its initial 53-man roster.
McCloud, a 2018 sixth-round pick of the Buffalo Bills out of Clemson, signed with the Bears on Aug. 10 as depth amid preseason injuries at receiver. Chicago waived undrafted Kyron Hudson with an injury designation to create a roster spot.
Less than three weeks later, on Aug. 30, the Bears placed McCloud on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury as they trimmed the roster to 53 players. Players designated to IR before the cut-down deadline are typically ineligible for the entire season unless later released via settlement.
The settlement, reported Friday, Sept. 4, and reflected in league transactions by Sept. 5, allows McCloud to sign with another team once healthy rather than sit out 2026 on Chicago’s IR list.
It is a common late-summer move when a veteran’s injury and limited path to playing time make keeping him on the roster impractical.
This was McCloud’s seventh NFL team. After Buffalo drafted him 187th overall in 2018, he bounced between the Bills and Carolina Panthers, then found a foothold with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2020–21. He led the league in punt return yards in 2021.
Stints followed with the San Francisco 49ers (including Super Bowl LVIII), Atlanta Falcons, and New York Giants. Chicago became stop No. 8.
His most productive receiving season came in 2024 with Atlanta: 62 catches for 686 yards and a touchdown in 17 games, including 13 starts. In 2025, he appeared in six games split between the Falcons and Giants, finishing with seven receptions for 69 yards.
Career totals through 2025 stand at 159 receptions for 1,523 yards and two receiving touchdowns, plus 271 rushing yards and one rushing score. He has also accumulated more than 4,200 combined return yards as a reliable special-teams contributor.
At 5-foot-9 and about 185–190 pounds, McCloud has long been valued more as a slot option and returner than a featured outside receiver.
The Bears signed him on a one-year deal amid injuries to Luther Burden III and others, hoping his experience and versatility would help in camp. An undisclosed injury ended that experiment before the regular season.
The settlement frees a roster and cap spot while giving the 29-year-old veteran (turning 30 in October) a chance to continue a nine-year career that began in 2018.
Whether another team views him as healthy enough to contribute on offense or special teams remains to be seen as Week 1 approaches. For Chicago, the move is another quiet roster-tightening step after an eventful preseason at wide receiver.
