The Bears re-signed five exclusive-rights free agents Wednesday: guard Alex Bars, running back Ryan Nall, tight end J.P. Holtz, outside linebacker James Vaughters and inside linebacker Josh Woods.
The moves were expected. Exclusive-rights free agents are players with three seasons of experience or fewer. They can only re-sign with their teams ahead of the start of the league season on March 17. Those who don’t re-sign with their teams would then become unrestricted free agents.
Nall played 64.8% of the Bears’ special-teams snaps last year, the fourth-most on the team, and posted three carries and eight catches. Bars, two years removed from Notre Dame, was lauded by his coaches this year for starting at center against the Titans despite never playing the position before.
Woods played 60.1 % of the Bears’ special-teams snaps, while Holtz played 46.7 % of the kicking downs. They ranked fifth and sixth on the team, respectively. Vaughters had 1 1⁄2 sacks in 14 games.
