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One of the biggest struggles for the Chicago Bears this offseason will be navigating a decreased salary cap with an abundance of needs on the roster. The NFL announced on Wednesday that the 2021 salary cap had been set at $182.5 million, which is down nearly $17 million from last year.
But while the salary cap has been set, it’s not the final cap number for all teams as teams are allowed to rollover unused cap from the previous season.
So where do the Bears stand with the salary cap entering a pivotal 2021 season?
According to Spotrac, Chicago’s cap ceiling for 2021 is $190 million, which is $7.5 million more than the new salary cap. Although, it’s still less than last season’s $198.2 million cap.
Adjusted salary caps for each 2021 #NFL team per the confirmed $182.5M league cap. These represent each team's total cap ceiling after including rollover & adjustments from the 2020 season. pic.twitter.com/50Zw0xVPTL
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 10, 2021
Where things stand, the Bears are currently around $23 million over the cap, according to Spotrac. Which means general manager Ryan Pace has plenty of work to do ahead of the start of the new league year.
The Bears will likely look to restructure some contracts, including safety Eddie Jackson and left guard Cody Whitehair. They could even look to sign some players to extensions in order to stretch out the cap hit over a couple of years.
But they could also part ways with players currently on the roster. Chicago has already parted ways with cornerback Buster Skrine and right tackle Bobby Massie, which freed up roughly $8.1 million in cap space between them both.
Expect more cap casualties on the way, which could include tight end Jimmy Graham (which would free up $7 million in cap space), left tackle Charles Leno ($6.2 million) and receiver Anthony Miller ($1.2 million). There could even be some surprising cuts, including cornerback Kyle Fuller ($11 million) or defensive tackle Akiem Hicks ($10.5 million).
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