Bear Digest

Chicago Bears Rate Among Youngest Teams After Roster Cutdown

Even with a 40-year-old tight end, 36-year-old long snapper and 33-year-old kicker, the Bears rate among the NFL's youngest teams.

Gene Chamberlain

Marcedes Lewis is 40 years old but the Bears are still one of the top 10 youngest teams in the league.
Marcedes Lewis is 40 years old but the Bears are still one of the top 10 youngest teams in the league. / Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
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The Bears enter this season with the eighth-youngest 53-man roster according to numbers compiled by The 33rd Team.

That's fairly young considering it's a roster with 40-year-old tight d Marcedes Lewis and a group of 30-something specialist players on the kicking teams.


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Still, ninth is a young roster and it's the second-youngest in the NFC North behind only the Green Bay Packers, who have the youngest team at 25.49 years old on average.

The Bears average 26.12 years old.

The Giants are second at 25.5, Tampa Bay third at 25.7 and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are fourth at 25.75.

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The league average is 26.66 years old. The Lions rank 13th youngest at 26.42.

Minnesota is the third oldest, at 27.75.

The Packers have the youngest offense at 24.82 while the Bears are eighth at 26.08

The Bears defense is tied with the Packers, Cardinals and Texans for the seventh youngest defense at 26.17 years old.

Tennesee, the Bears' opponent in the opener, is one behind the Bears in average overall age in ninth at 26.18 years old.

The Bears have nine players 30 or older and three of them are starters: defensive end DeMarcus Walker (30), wide receiver Keenan Allen (32) and safety Kevin Byard (31) are the starters. The others are tight end Gerald Everett (30), tackle Matt Pryor (30), wide receiver DeAndre Carter (31), kicker Cairo Santos (33), long snapper Patrick Scales (36) and Lewis (40). Scales is currently on IR.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.