Chicago Bears waive Lake Forest native Andre Szmyt; sign Skokie native Barrington Wade

The Bears waived kicker Andre Szmyt, a Lake Forest native, on Tuesday.

The team previously signed Szmyt as an undrafted rookie following the NFL draft in April. He spent the spring with the Bears going through OTAs and had been practicing with the team in training camp.

The Bears also waived injured tight end Jake Tonges, who had been with the team over the past year. In a corresponding move, the team signed tight end Lachlan Pitts and linebacker Barrington Wade, a Skokie native, to the 90-man roster.

Szmyt played high school ball at Vernon Hills, helping the Cougars reach the 2016 IHSA Class 5A state championship game. He went on to have a record-breaking career in college at Syracuse.

In the spring, Szmyt told Shaw Local that his goal heading into camp was simply to trust the process.

"Trust in the work you put in, trust in your teammates, trust in my skill," Szmyt said.

The Bears now have only one kicker on the roster: Cairo Santos. It was always going to be an uphill battle for Szmyt to beat out a veteran like Santos, who has been one of the most accurate field-goal kickers in Bears history.

Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said that Szmyt is a "great kid."

"I think Andre is going to have a great future," Hightower said. "And I really like the kid."

While one local player is on the way out, another is on the way in. Wade, who the Bears signed Tuesday, grew up in Skokie and played at Niles North. He played college ball at Iowa and has had brief stints with the Ravens, Broncos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Wade appeared in four NFL games with Denver in 2021.

Pitts, the tight end addition, is from Virginia and played college ball at William & Mary. Pitts previously participated in Bears rookie minicamp in the spring.