Andrew

Billings

Billings will be placed on injured reserve this week. He suffered the injury in Chicago’s Week 9 loss to the Commanders. Billings has one sack and two TFLs in eight starts this year.

Billings’ injury is not immediately evident. He walked off the field accompanied by the Bears’ training staff but did so under his own power. Billings ranks fifth on the team with 14 quarterback pressures. Losing him would be a big blow to an already-thin Bears defense. Billings’ injury was later reported as a pectoral injury.

Billings’ extension includes $6 million in guaranteed money, which is nearly double the $3.5 million contract he signed earlier this offseason. The veteran tackle has appeared in eight games for the Bears this season, totaling 14 tackles and three TFLs while earning a PFF grade of 68.1. A staple in the team’s run defense, Billings, 28, is now under contract through 2025.

The veteran run-stuffer turned 28 a few days ago and will be tasked with helping keep Chicago’s run-defense DVOA in negative figures this year after a 30th-place finish in 2022. After playing out his rookie deal with the Bengals, Billings has had one-year samples with the Raiders and Browns and will now get another with Chicago.

A 2020 opt-out during the “coronavirus season,” 26-year-old Billings returned for 2021. He made six appearances for the Browns, though he was eventually cut, failing to earn elevation from the Dolphins or Chiefs’ practice squads. One week shy of his 27th birthday, the ex-Bengal — Billings made 37 starts between 2017-19 — is going to have a difficult time cracking the Raiders’ 53-man roster.

Billings, 25, started 37 games for the Bengals over three seasons. He’s listed as the Browns’ second-string DL.

Billings started 37 games with the Bengals after being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. Unfortunately, he never quite got rolling as a pass rusher, totaling just 3.5 sacks and 12 QB hits through three seasons of action. Billings will provide depth to the Browns’ defensive front, but expectations should be managed. PFF graded him as their 50th-best interior defender among 121 qualified players in 2019.

Billings suffered a torn meniscus last Wednesday that required surgery. Look for Billings to be sent to injured reserve in the near future. The No. 122 overall pick in the draft was expected to push Domata Peko for snaps at the nose.

Billings had some Day 1 projections, but size concerns and a two-down skill set pushed him to the fourth round. He should see most of his rookie-year snaps as a run stopper behind Geno Atkins and Domata Peko. First-round CB William Jackson III is Cincinnati’s only unsigned pick.

It’s quite possible Billings is done for the season. He’ll almost certainly be headed to injured reserve, where he’ll be a candidate to be the Bengals’ late-season activation under the new I.R./return rules.