The Chicago Bears are leaving their cap space to use in the future. That might even be an understatement.
According to a statistic from Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analytics, the Bears are fielding the least expensive offense in the NFL next season, tapping out at $65 million.
Cody Whitehair represents the highest paid offensive player next season with a base salary of $8 million. David Montgomery follows him with a base salary of north of $2 million from his rookie contract.
Here’s a chart of positional spending per offensive position plus NFL rank, via Spotrac.
| Position | Players | Cap Dollars | NFL Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | 3 | $6,819,081 | 27 |
| Running Back | 5 | $6,365,706 | 29 |
| Wide Receivers | 13 | $14,458,075 | 30 |
| Tight End | 5 | $6,583,882 | 27 |
| Offensive Line | 16 | $27,338,346 | 31 |
With the losses of Allen Robinson (~$17 million cap hit), Nick Foles (~$6 million cap hit), Jimmy Graham (~$5 million cap hit), Andy Dalton (~$4 million cap hit) and a plethora of others, the Bears are saving their money for future use.
NFL
The Bears have an offense with plenty of rookie contracts like Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom, Cole Kmet, Darnell Mooney and Justin Fields.
They also signed multiple short-term, minimum salary contracts to the offense like Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown, Lucas Patrick and Darrynton Evans to bridge the gap of their rebuild.
General manager Ryan Poles set the blueprint for a cheap offense waiting to strike with cap usage next offseason. It is no question the front office will see the money on the field next season.
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