Cal Sports Report

Raiders Waive QB Chase Garbers; Elijah Hicks Makes Bears' Roster

Former Cal star Garbers a strong candidate to join Las Vegas' practice squad

Jake Curtis

Tuesday's cutdown day brought good news for former Cal safety Elijah Hicks, but disappointing news for former Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers.

Garbers had a good preseason for the Las Vegas Raiders, but apparently it was not good enough as Garbers was one of many players waived by the Raiders on Tuesday. However, Hicks did make the Chicago Bears' 53-man roster.

NFL teams were required to get down to the 53-man, regular-season roster by Tuesday afternoon, and ultimately the Raiders opted to keep two quarterbacks instead of three.

Derek Carr is the starting quarterback for the Raiders, and Jarrett Stidham is his backup.  Garbers was No. 3 and played three quarters of the Raiders' final preseason game.

Garbers is prime candidate to join the Raiders' practice squad, which is not a terrible fate for a quarterback who was not taken in the 2022 NFL draft an signed with the Raiders as a free agent.

Not making an NFL roster does not necessarily mean the end of Garbers' chances to be an NFL quarterback.  Both Johnny Unitas and were both cut by NFL teams in their first year of trying to make as pros, and both are now in the Hall of Fame.

Garbers was 24-for-40 for 248 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in the Raiders' four exhibition games. He rushed for 44 rushing yards last week, but he was sacked twice last week and twice on Friday.

Garbers was the Raiders' quarterback for 10 offensive possessions in the final preseason game on Friday. He was 12-for-22 for 141 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, and he ran eight times for 17 yards, including three kneel-downs that netted -3 yards on the final possession. 

Hicks made an impression with the Bears, especially on special teams, recovering a fumble after a muffed punt and scoring a touchdown in one exhibition game.

The Bears kept 11 defensive backs, including five safeties, and Hicks was one of the five safeties on the 53-man roster. He is listed as a third-team safety on the depth chart, so it's a good bet that his special-teams work enabled him to secure a spot on the roster.

Hicks was a seventh-round pick by the Bears in the 2022 NFL draft, but he missed a lot of training time in the offseason after suffering a broken foot in February.

How other former Cal players fared

---Linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk signed with the Cleveland Browns a few weeks ago, and he made the Browns' 53-man roster.

---Tight end Jake Tonges, signed as a free agent after going undrafted, was released by the Bears Tuesday.

---Running back Patrick Laird signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in early August, but he was cut by the Bucs on Tuesday.

---Veteran tight end Stephen Anderson signed with the Cardinals in the offseason, but he was released by Arizona on Tuesday.

.

Cover photo of Chase Garbers (15) is by Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA TODAY Sports

.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Published
Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

Home/Football