Bears Sign Veteran DB Xavier Woods, Lose Dallis Flowers to IR
Chicago adds a 31-year-old safety with two picks last season while Flowers heads to injured reserve after a Thursday practice leg injury.
Deep-league IDP flier only until his snap share is confirmed.
- Woods played 526 snaps, 11 games in 2025 (Titans)
- Posted 39 tackles, 2 INTs, 3 PDs last season
- Flowers played just 1 game for Chicago in 2025
- Woods, 31, drafted 6th round by Cowboys in 2017
- Flowers placed on IR after Thursday leg injury
The Bears reshuffled their secondary Friday, signing veteran defensive back Xavier Woods and placing Dallis Flowers on injured reserve in the corresponding move. Woods, 31, arrives after a full-time role with the Titans in 2025, where he logged 526 defensive snaps across 11 games with 10 starts.
The production line was solid but not spectacular: 39 tackles, two interceptions and three passes defensed last season. That's the kind of dependable veteran floor Chicago suddenly needed, because Flowers went down hard. He required help getting off the field during Thursday's practice after injuring his right leg, and after appearing in just one game for the Bears in 2025, he now lands on IR.
Woods brings a well-traveled résumé. Dallas took him in the sixth round back in 2017, and he spent four seasons there before stops with the Vikings and Panthers, then a year in Tennessee. He's the definition of a plug-and-play safety — teams keep calling because he shows up and starts.
The Fantasy Fallout
For IDP managers, this is a depth-chart story more than a breakout one. Two picks in 11 games is respectable, but 39 tackles over a full season isn't the tackle volume that makes a safety a weekly IDP starter. Woods profiles as a rotational-to-starter piece, not a locked-in every-down defender — at least not yet.
Flowers, meanwhile, was already a fantasy afterthought after his lone 2025 appearance, so the IR designation barely moves the needle for anyone rostering him. If you were holding him on spec, you can move on.
Bottom line: keep Woods on your watch list if you play in a deep IDP format and monitor how many snaps he actually draws once he's fully integrated. In standard leagues, there's nothing to do here. Let the situation clarify before spending a roster spot on a 31-year-old safety in a new scheme.
