Chicago Bears place Henry Melton on IR

Sep 22, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton (69) is carted off the field after being injured against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half at Heinz Field. The Bears won the game, 40-23. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports /

The Chicago Bears defense suffered a devastating blow last week during their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, when defensive tackle Henry Melton went down with what appeared to be a serious injury. It didn’t take long for the team to announce Melton had suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and today they have officially brought his year to an end.

The team placed melton on the injured reserve list which ends his 2013-14 season effective immediately.

With Melton now set to watch the rest of the season from the sidelines, the team went on and signed Landon Cohen to take over his roster spot.

The news is an obvious blow to the Chicago defense, but perhaps no one will suffer more than Melton himself.

Melton is currently set to hit unrestricted free agency in the offseason. He was playing this year under his one-year, $8.45 million franchise tender.

When you are a player coming off of a serious knee injury, teams will be more reluctant to open their checkbooks, so Melton’s injury cost him plenty of dollars.

Home/NFL