Wide receiver Sam Hurd was released by the Bears on Friday following his arrest on federal drug charges earlier this week.
One of the most outgoing, personable members of the team starting from Day One of training camp, and the arrest caught the franchise by surprise.
"I can tell you, with total transparency, that we did everything we know to do in terms of our research," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said, "and there was nothing that we found that would create a flag or alert in Sam Hurd's case."
Hurd, 26, agreed to terms on a three-year, $4.15 million contract as an unrestricted free agent that included a $1.35 million signing bonus.
"I'm just shocked about the situation," said Bears wide receiver Roy Williams, who was also Hurd's teammate for three years with the Dallas Cowboys. "It's a situation that I don't want anybody to be in, especially a close friend, a teammate that I've been playing with for four or five years now, especially a guy from Texas with a wife and daughter. I know it has to be tough for him because he has a family. It's a choice that he made and there are consequences with the choices that you make."
Hurd is alleged to have told an undercover investigator that he was seeking to purchase a half-ton of marijuana and five to 10 kilograms of cocaine per week.
Hurd reportedly told the undercover agent that he and an accomplice currently distributed four kilograms of cocaine each week, but that his current supplier couldn't meet their demand. He said he would pay $25,000 per kilogram of cocaine and $450 per pound of marijuana.
Hurd was arrested outside a Chicago restaurant Wednesday night after he accepted a kilogram of cocaine from a confidential informant and an undercover federal agent posing as a drug supplier, according to federal charges filed Thursday in Dallas.
No one in the Bears' organization was aware that anything was amiss until Hurd failed to show for meetings Thursday morning.
"Sam wasn't in meetings this morning and from there we start searching and trying to find out why a player wouldn't be here," coach Lovie Smith said. "There was no tip-off. We didn't know it was coming, (it was a) total surprise.
"I'm in shock over it; never saw it coming. My dealings with Sam have all been good. He's a guy that showed up every day ready to go to work."
David Kenner, one of Hurd's defense attorney, said his client never sold drugs to other NFL players, disputing reports that the NFL has a list of players who have connections to Hurd.
"I haven't seen all the material," Kenner told the Chicago Sun-Times. "But we have seen nothing to support that contention. We believe that is simply not the case."
Hurd had a team-best 40 special teams tackles in his final two years with the Cowboys, which is why he was targeted in the offseason by Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who seemed most upset over the allegations.
"He's been very valuable," Toub said. "He's been a four-phase starter for us. Solid. He's been our (personal protector) on punt team. He's been the captain of our punt team.
"So it's going to take a little bit to replace him," Toub said. "We're all shocked. I'll just leave it at that."
The bigger concern for the Bears' organization is any possible involvement of Hurd's current teammates, a question that must be asked, given the level of the operation.
"You guys know most of our players around here," Smith said after Thursday's practice. "But with our group—I'm surprised right now—I really would be shocked if … I just know that no one else would be involved."
While the situation could become a lot messier for the Bears' organization if others are involved, it has already created a major distraction at an inopportune time with the 7-6 team clinging to tenuous playoff possibilities.
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