It’s hard to put together a puzzle if you don’t know how many pieces you’ve got. For GMs, that puzzle is fitting their roster under the salary cap, and now all teams know how much space they’ve got. Each team will be starting with $182.5 million, but when you account cap rollover and dead money, the Bears in particular will have $189.5 million to work with, according to the NFL Players Association.
As things stand now, Spotrac says the team is over the cap by $22.5 million, so they’ll have work to do to not only get under, but also make space for any potential free agent signings or trades (lookin’ at you Russell Wilson).
It’s worth mentioning that Spotrac still lists Bobby Massie on their active roster for the Bears, while multiple reports say the team is likely to decline his option, saving $5.4 million. Still, that leaves the team $17.1 million over the cap, so expect contract restructures and more cuts on the horizon.
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