The Bears are whittling away as they seek to get underneath the salary cap and accommodate the $18 million franchise tag for receiver Allen Robinson.
The NFLPA lists the Bears as $22.4 million over the 2021 salary cap. That doesn’t include the expected release of right tackle Bobby Massie.
It also doesn’t include the $23 million the Bears gained with reworked deals for linebacker Khalil Mack, safety Eddie Jackson and offensive lineman Cody Whitehair, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The Bears plan to convert base salary into signing bonus money for the players.
Mack, who previously had his contract restructured in 2019, was scheduled to have a team-high salary cap hit of $26.646 million.
The restructure will create ridiculous cap hits for Mack in 2022 and 2023. He already was scheduled to count $27.15 million and $25.5 million against the cap in those two years.
His contract is scheduled to expire after the 2024 season.
The restructure likely takes Mack out of any potential trade scenarios.
This marks the first restructure of Jackson’s five-year, $58.4 million deal and the first of Whitehair’s five-year, $51.3 million contract. Jackson was scheduled to count $11.45 million against the cap in 2021 and Whitehair $9.6 million.