The Bears on Wednesday released running back Tarik Cohen and linebacker Danny Trevathan.
Cohen, 26, has been sidelined since suffering a torn ACL in Week 3 of the 2020 season in Atlanta. He's missed the last 31 games, including a 2020 playoff loss to the Saints.
Prior to his injury, Cohen appeared in 51 contests with 22 starts over four seasons, rushing for 1,101 yards and five touchdowns on 264 carries, and catching 209 passes for 1,575 yards and nine TDs. He also averaged 10.3 yards with one touchdown on 96 punt returns and 20.9 yards on 30 kickoff returns.
Selected by the Bears in the fourth round of the 2017 draft out of North Carolina A&T, the 5-6, 196-pounder had a breakout rookie year. He rushed for 370 yards and two touchdowns on 87 carries, caught 53 passes for 358 yards and one TD, averaged 9.4 yards with one touchdown on 29 punt returns, averaged 22.4 yards on 26 kickoff returns and even threw a TD pass.
In 2018, Cohen again displayed his versatility. He led all NFL running backs with seven catches of at least 25 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown on a screen in a win over the Jets that was the Bears' longest play from scrimmage in 2018. As a punt returner, he was voted to the Pro Bowl and named first-team All-Pro after leading the NFL with 411 punt return yards.
In 2019, Cohen rushed for 213 yards on 64 carries and caught a career-high 79 passes for 456 yards and three TDs. But he did not generate the big plays he had produced in his first two seasons. His yards-per-reception dropped from 10.2 in 2018 to 5.8 in 2019. Cohen's longest catch in 2019 was a 31-yarder, while he had receptions of 70, 50, 46, 35 and 32 yards in 2018.
Cohen signed a three-year contract extension Sept. 19, 2020, but he injured his knee eight days later when he was hit by a Falcons player after fair-catching a punt.
Trevathan, 31, signed with the Bears in 2016 after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Broncos. He appeared in 67 games with 62 starts in six years in Chicago, registering 459 tackles, 7.0 sacks, 19 tackles-for-loss, three interceptions, 21 pass breakups, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Trevathan started all 16 games in 2018 and 2020, but injuries limited him to nine contests in 2019 and just five last year, when he compiled 19 tackles. In 2020, he ranked second on the Bears behind Roquan Smith with 113 tackles, the second highest single-season total of Trevathan's NFL career.
Trevathan was selected by the Broncos in the sixth round of the 2012 draft out of Kentucky. In his final year in Denver in 2015, he was the leading tackler on a defense that led the Broncos to a Super Bowl championship.
