16. Chicago Bears
Current cap space: $4,929,361
Primary free agents: S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, DL Nick Williams, LB Danny Trevathan, LB Nick Kwiatkoski, QB Chase Daniel
In the end, it doesn’t really matter that the Bears have a young running back with potential in David Montgomery, or a talented group of receivers, or a great defense, or a gifted offensive mind in head coach Matt Nagy. Because when you’re albatrossed at quarterback like Chicago is with Mitchell Trubisky, all that other stuff will become more meaningless than it should be.
In the offseason, the Bears hired Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator and John DeFilippo as quarterbacks coach and announced Dave Ragone’s promotion from quarterbacks coach to passing game coordinator. Throw those guys on top of Nagy’s at times brilliant passing game schemes, and there are no more excuses for Trubisky. The Bears made an enormous, franchise-defining mistake when they moved up in the 2017 draft to select Trubisky No. 2 overall, leaving Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson on the board, and nothing has made their guy a consistent quarterback. If it doesn’t happen in 2020 with all that coaching capital, Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace will find themselves pressed against the wall.