Bears Cap Space 2024

The Chicago Bears have been in a bit of a bind recently with their salary cap situation, an issue that wasn't helped with the lack of fans in stadiums and subsequent revenue loss for the NFL in 2020.

After moving a ton of money into the future to acquire the likes of Robert Quinn, Jimmy Graham, and Nick Foles last offseason, the Bears were in a tough spot financially heading into 2021. The Bears were able to make a few moves this offseason, signing Andy Dalton and a few nice depth pieces, but it came at a cost as the team had to part ways with Kyle Fuller and move more money into the future with multiple contracts restructures.

So where do the Bears stand now from a cap perspective after the draft with rookie quarterback Justin Fields in the fold? To find out, let's take a look at some of the key moving parts of their situation.

Chicago Bears Salary Cap Situation Overview

*Based on the $208,200,000 salary cap ceiling set by the NFL; includes rollover money from 2021.

**Based on the $225,000,000 salary cap projection from overthecap.com; does not include rollover money from 2022.

The table seen above is a three-year look at the Bears' salary cap situation according to overthecap.com. While the Bears have yet to sign their 2021 rookie class as of yet, this does include their cap hits based on where their contracts are projected as well. Only Justin Fields and Teven Jenkins count towards the cap in 2021 due to the top-51 rule, which states that only the top 51 cap hits on the 90-man roster count towards the team's overall cap space. One important detail to point out is that this doesn't include the projected rookie classes of 2022 or 2023. Barring any cuts or in-season moves, the Bears will have approximately $5,025,277 that will be rolled over into the next season.

The 2022 cap sheet is fluid as the figure shown is high-end in terms of cap space, but even that isn't telling of the true amount of flexibility that the Bears will have. While the Bears have 42 players currently under contract, a good amount of said players are low-investment, roster bubble guys that are unlikely to make an impact in the grand scheme of things. The Bears will also have big cap hits assigned to veteran players such as Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Eddie Jackson, Cody Whitehair, Eddie Goldman and Nick Foles.

What's more worrisome is the amount of key free agents that the Bears will need to re-sign on significant contracts. As of right now, that list includes Allen Robinson, Bilal Nichols, James Daniels, Akiem Hicks and could even include Anthony Miller as well as Germain Ifedi depending on their respective performances this upcoming season. In terms of needs, the Bears will have holes at multiple starting positions including offensive line, wide receiver, "U" tight end, defensive line, cornerback and safety unless young players under contract step up this year. Re-signing key players and plugging these starting needs will take up the majority of their spending and could force them to move additional money into 2023 to eat into what looks like a considerable amount of cap space if the salary cap continues to expand at a rapid yearly rate.

Speaking of 2023, the Bears will also have to work around big cap hits to Mack, Quinn, Jackson, Whitehair and Goldman once again and will have key free agents to potentially re-sign such as Roquan Smith and David Montgomery. With the salary cap set to explode in 2024 due to new television contracts, however, it's possible that the Bears can make it work by backloading deals while Fields is cheap on his rookie contract.

Ways the Bears Can Create More Cap Room

So what are some steps that the Bears can take to create cap space for 2022 specifically?

For one, working on an extension for Smith early in 2022 on his fifth-year option can help. By converting $8,500,000 of his $9,735,000 base salary into a signing bonus, the Bears can open up $6,800,000 in cap room. One smart trick that the Bears can employ on the said extension could be waiting until 2023 to give Smith his big guaranteed bonus when the team will likely have a bit more breathing room.

Extending Robinson before the July 15th franchise tag extension deadline could also benefit the Bears in clearing cap room. Similar to Smith, the Bears could opt to wait a year to hand Robinson his big bonus with the focus on restructuring his current salary to open up cap space. Doing so could save $13,440,000 on their cap sheet this season on top of a new deal, a win-win scenario for both parties. This would likely mean a big cap hit for Robinson in 2022, but the Bears would have more money to roll over into the year to offset it.

Cutting Quinn, assuming he fails to bounce back after a down 2020 campaign, could also free up significant room as well. The Bears would save $6,700,000 by cutting Quinn before June 1st but would incur $9,300,000 in dead money as a result. The main positive to this, however, is that it would completely get rid of his $17,100,000 cap hit for 2023 in its entirety.

Cutting Danny Trevathan is another option for the Bears, although it would have to be designated as a post-June-1st release to save any cap room due to the structure of his contract being backloaded with dummy years in 2023, 2024 and 2025. This would save the Bears $3,500,000 for 2022 but wouldn't come available to them until after the June 1st deadline and would leave the team with $6,493,750 in dead money on their 2023 cap sheet.

Trading Foles is another logical move, although it will probably be tough to find a willing trade partner. Cutting Foles only saves $3,000,000, however, trading him before his roster bonus is owed to him would save $8,000,000. As alluded to though, a team trading for Foles will likely ask the Bears to eat that money for their benefit.

Finally, the Bears can continue kicking the can down the road with their older stars by restructuring Mack, Jackson and Whitehair's deals once again. This seems likely given Ryan Pace's background coming from the New Orleans Saints front office where general manager Mickey Loomis has made a living off of moving money into the future on his biggest contracts. This would create a ton of cap room in the present but leave the Bears with a giant bill to pay down the road.

What Should the Bears Strategy Be?

When putting everything into perspective, the Bears are still going to be tight on cap space and limited with what they can do to add talent to the roster in the foreseeable future without sacrificing the future.

The dilemma here is establishing what strategy is best moving forward to maximize the Bears' current window with Fields' rookie deal. Knowing this front office and how they operate, it's most likely that Pace will continue to be aggressive with pushing money into the future with some of his older players looking to make upgrades to the roster.

In my opinion, a different approach would likely be best.

The Bears at this stage would be wise to do everything within their power to go for an all-in run in 2023 when the cap rises once again and some of their big contracts come off the books. Given the fact that the cap is likely to see a huge jump in 2024 and beyond, the Bears would be in a good spot then to kick money into the future while Fields is still on his rookie deal. Remember, the Bears have contractual control over Fields through 2025 via the fifth-year option and even that won't be too expensive relative to other top starting quarterbacks in the NFL assuming he performs as well as advertised.

In the present, this leaves the Bears in a situation where their top priority outside of trying to help with Fields' development as much as possible, should be cap management for said 2023 all-in push. That means a more conservative approach to 2022 free agency once again and the Bears should really only be pushing money into the future for younger players that will likely play a big role on the 2023 team such as Smith, Robinson and even possibly Nichols or Daniels. This also means that getting out of Quinn's deal a year early and possibly eating all of Trevathan's dead money in 2022 would be better long-term moves so that the Bears have more money to throw around when it is time to go on a free-agent spending spree.

All-in-all, the Bears are still in a tough spot financially but the presence of a quarterback on a rookie contract gives the team flexibility to build up the roster going forward. Only time will tell what strategy the Bears will ultimately employ to build around Fields, but the next two offseasons will be critical in deciding what fate the team has in its current window.