One of the challenges facing the Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL in 2021 is the salary cap, which will decrease after financial losses due to COVID-19.
The NFL and NFLPA previously negotiated a $ 175 million floor for the salary cap. But the two sides reached an agreement to increase the floor to $ 180 million, which gives teams a little more room to maneuver. While that is not the final figure – ESPN believes it could reach $ 185 million – which is likely to be announced in March, it does give teams an idea of what the salary cap will look like.
But what does this mean for the Chicago Bears in 2021?
If the floor of the wage ceiling remains, the Bears will be $ 2.5 million above the ceiling in 2021, according to Over The Cap. This means that general manager Ryan Pace will have to make some decisions regarding the restructuring of deals and cutting players to free up space at the limit.
“We have to be aware,” said Pace of the wage cap situation in January. “Obviously, as you know every year, there are ways to create cap space and these are all important decisions that we have to make.
“It kind of starts with that, evaluating our own list and talking (about) some of those things. This is real.”
Some potential casualties include tight end Jimmy Graham ($ 7 million), right tackle Bobby Massie ($ 5.4 million), left tackle Charles Leno ($ 6.2 million), cornerback Buster Skrine ($ 2.7 million) and receiver Anthony Miller ($ 1.2 million)
Considering that the Bears have about 30 free agents this offseason, Pace has his work cut out for him, especially since some of these free agents must be priorities, including receivers Allen Robinson and Cordarrelle Patterson, as well as kicker Cairo Santos.