Former Chiefs running back Josh Caldwell lands on his feet in Chicago

Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Josh Caldwell has landed on his feet—and he is headed to an old friend. The Chicago Bears (and head coach Matt Nagy) have signed Caldwell, according to the team’s official public relations staff on Twitter.

Caldwell, 23, garnered a decent following during his short offseason stint with the Chiefs thanks in part to being a native of Lee’s Summit and a product of Lee’s Summit North. Caldwell was invited to training camp after participating in the Chiefs’ local pro day, rookie minicamp and mandatory minicamp.

Caldwell had the longest run of the night in the Chiefs’ first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, a 47-yard gain to get the Chiefs to the Cincinnati 4-yard line. He finished off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown.

But the Chiefs waived Caldwell a day later to free up a roster spot for tight end Manasseh Garner. The next day, running backs coach Deland McCullough spoke highly of Caldwell when asked about his chances of finding a new home.

“I think they’re high,” he said. “I hope they’re high. When Josh Caldwell came here, he came to our local day, I really liked him. He came into our rookie minicamp, slid him in as a fullback, but I used him as halfback. I said, ‘Man, this guy can play.’ So after he got released from the rookie minicamp, I emailed all of the running back coaches in the NFL and said, ‘Hey. I don’t know what you guys are doing with minicamp, but this is a guy y’all should take a look at.’

“And then luckily, what? Four, five weeks later, we had an opportunity to bring him back and just give him an opportunity. The guy can play, so we’ll see what happens with him, but I’ve always been a fan of Josh Caldwell.”

With the Chiefs having a deep running back room, it simply became a numbers game for Caldwell.

“Nobody knew that was going to happen,” McCullough said of Caldwell’s touchdown. “But again, in this league, you got to take advantage of opportunities when they come.”

Calwell will look to take advantage of his next opportunity with the Bears.