Chicago Bears waive 2025 fifth-round pick Zah Frazier

CHICAGO (WGN) — A year after he was drafted to help provide depth in the Chicago Bears’ defensive backfield, Zah Frazier was waived by the team on Thursday, according to a press release from the team.

All 31 other teams will have the next 24 hours to claim Frazier off the NFL waiver wire, but if he goes unclaimed, he will be released by Chicago and become an unrestricted free agent.

Frazier, a 2025 fifth-round pick out of the University of Texas-San Antonio with previous college football experience at Southern Illinois University, was brought in as a plus-sized corner (he was listed as 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds in college) to compete for snaps behind Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson at corner, but he never saw the field in the regular season.

Frazier spent his entire rookie year on the Non-Football-Injury (NFI) list with what team officials said were undisclosed personal reasons.

After the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs in January, general manager Ryan Poles seemed optimistic Frazier would return to the team, and be a part of the defensive puzzle they tried to solve in training camp ahead of the 2026 regular season.

“I had a good conversation with him. He’ll be back going into this offseason like everybody else,” Poles said on Jan. 21. “He feels like he’s in a really good place to develop and move forward. Definitely a setback. He’s got a mountain to climb just for missing so much ball he needed to play. That’ll be up to him to be able to get himself in the right position to compete for a roster spot.”

Frazier broke UTSA’s single-season interceptions record with six picks during his final year in college. The accomplishment netted him a first-team All-AAC selection, as well as an honorable mention All-America nod from CBS Sports.

The Bears open up their two-day rookie minicamp on Friday, May 8, in Lake Forest at Halas Hall.

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