Chicago Bears Claim Former Vikings WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette on Waivers

The Bears have claimed former Vikings wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette off of waivers, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. After claiming DL Armon Watts a day earlier, Chicago lands its second surprising Vikings castoff in as many days.

In a somewhat shocking move, Smith-Marsette was waived by the Vikings shortly after they traded for former Eagles first-round pick Jalen Reagor on Wednesday. The second-year receiver out of Iowa appeared to be in line to be the Vikings' No. 4 receiver this season.

Instead, he'll have a much better opportunity for a major role with the Bears. Chicago placed N'Keal Harry on injured reserve on Thursday, leaving third-round rookie Velus Jones Jr., Byron Pringle, Dante Pettis, and Equanimeous St. Brown as their secondary receivers behind No. 1 option Darnell Mooney.

Whereas Smith-Marsette was guaranteed to be behind Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and K.J. Osborn on the depth chart in Minnesota for as long as that trio was healthy, he'll have an opportunity to compete with players like Jones and Pringle to be in the Bears' top three at wideout.

Drafted in the fifth round in 2021, Smith-Marsette didn't have much of a role for most of his rookie season. He caught his first career touchdown pass in Chicago in Week 15, then showed off his upside with three catches for 103 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings' meaningless regular season finale against the Bears. 

Heading into his second season, Smith-Marsette looked pretty good throughout training camp — although he occasionally struggled with the details of route-running — and led the Vikings with 10 catches for 121 yards in the preseason.

Both Watts and Smith-Marsette could play sizable roles for a rebuilding Bears team in 2022. They'll have two opportunities to enact revenge on their former team, first in Minneapolis in Week 5 and then in Chicago in Week 18.