The Bears on Tuesday released veteran outside linebacker Sam Acho.
The 6-3, 259-pounder spent the past four seasons with the Bears, registering 140 tackles, four sacks, eight tackles-for-loss, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, three pass breakups and 17 special-teams tackles while appearing in 51 games with 25 starts.
Acho, 30, missed the final 12 games last season after sustaining a torn pectoral muscle in a Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field.
Acho joined the Bears in 2015 after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Cardinals. He was selected by Arizona in the fourth round of the 2011 draft out of Texas and played in 51 games with 32 starts for the Cardinals.
Off the field, Acho has helped coordinate the Bears' social justice initiatives and has worked with several other charities, most notably Living Hope Christian Ministries, an organization that was founded by his parents in 1989.
Acho was selected as the Bears' NFL Man of the Year Award nominee in both 2016 and 2017. The prestigious honor is the only league award that recognizes a player's off-the-field community service as well as his performance on the field. It has been in existence since 1970 and rewards NFL players who demonstrate outstanding balance in their lives between civic and professional responsibilities.
