Breaking down contract statuses at every position for Bears' 2021 offseason

[Bearly]

The Chicago Bears concluded their 2020 season at 8-9, which included a wild-card playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Now, the attention turns to the offseason, where general manager Ryan Pace will have plenty of work to do and not a whole lot of cap space to do it with — at least at the moment. The Bears are roughly $185,755 over the salary cap, which factors in the likely salary cap decrease following a COVID-19 season.

With the offseason in full swing, we decided to take a look at the current contract status at every position.

For note: Those listed that still have time left on their contracts could be released or traded during the offseason, and some could sign extensions.

This list also includes players entering free agency and those on injured reserve, although not the practice squad.

Breaking down contract statuses at every position for Bears' 2021 offseason

With Chicago’s offseason in full swing, we decided to take a look at the current contract status at every position.

bearswire.usatoday.com

 

[Penny Traitor]

Tell me again why they can't afford to pay ARob????

 

[Penny Traitor]

Oh maybe this is why.....

 

[and 69 others]

Keep in mind the cap will be lowered next year. That Quinn contract is atrocious.

 

[Bearfanfromnewjersey]

Keep in mind the cap will be lowered next year. That Quinn contract is atrocious.

I remember someone telling me when i brought up the fact Quinn is a 4-3 DE they said 'well Julius peppers made the transition" yah! JULIUS PEPPERS DID! future HOF

 

[Bears Backer 54]

Oh maybe this is why.....

View attachment 9755

The only one on this list even remotely pulling in their worth is Roquan. ~$46M in over 30 Mack, Quinn and DT is a recipe for disaster. Especially when we realize we need to figure out how to address Robinson's WR position, QB and Oline which all are going to need massive funds to make any moves.

 

[nc0gnet0]

Oh maybe this is why.....

View attachment 9755
Goldman/Hicks/Fuller?

 

[HearshotKDS]

Still don't believe the cap will go down to $175m. If owners are smart they instead negotiate a 5 year "cap freeze" that locks the cap at $200M until 2027. That would save owners around $150M of total cap, while not forcing teams to make mad cuts to existing players contracts. Its robbing future NFL contracts to do so, but financial foresight hasn't traditionally been a strength of professional athletes.

 

[nc0gnet0]

Still don't believe the cap will go down to $175m. If owners are smart they instead negotiate a 5 year "cap freeze" that locks the cap at $200M until 2027. That would save owners around $150M of total cap, while not forcing teams to make mad cuts to existing players contracts. Its robbing future NFL contracts to do so, but financial foresight hasn't traditionally been a strength of professional athletes.

If the owners were smart they would agree to spend an additional @20-30 mill on the same pool of players?

Business school much?

 

[HearshotKDS]

If the owners were smart they would agree to spend an additional @0-30 mill on the same pool of players?

Business school much?

Cap goes up by a little over $10M every year. By agreeing to a freeze the owners would save $150M over 5 years by spending an extra $0-30m this year. 500% return on investment in 5 years is considered good, welcome to wealth management.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

View attachment 9754
Tell me again why they can't afford to pay ARob????

The investment at the WR position is horrendous. Mooney is solid, but the rest? Cordarrlle isn't a WR. Miller/Wims are low level guys. Ridley never sees the field.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Can we shed both Massie/Leno's contracts with minimal impact? Looks like it would be around $7.5M in dead cap for 2021. Resign Ifedi and draft a LT.

 

[msadows]

If they don't franchise tag Arob at 16m and let him walk this organization deserves the garbage they put out there.

 

[msadows]

Can we shed both Massie/Leno's contracts with minimal impact? Looks like it would be around $7.5M in dead cap for 2021. Resign Ifedi and draft a LT.

Yes and no. Massie for sure, Leno kind of hurts because you still take on a 5m dead cap hit, which on a limited cap year isn't something you really want.

I don't expect leno to go anywhere, but massie is almost def. gone.

 

[Penny Traitor]

The investment at the WR position is horrendous. Mooney is solid, but the rest? Cordarrlle isn't a WR. Miller/Wims are low level guys. Ridley never sees the field.

It's not really funny, but I still laughed at Charles Leno being the Bears' highest paid player on offense in 2021.

 

[msadows]

Remember when this board was slobbing on AntMill's nuts just a year ago?

@msadows remembers.

 

[nc0gnet0]

Cap goes up by a little over $10M every year. By agreeing to a freeze the owners would save $150M over 5 years by spending an extra $0-30m this year. 500% return on investment in 5 years is considered good, welcome to wealth management.

While your at it why don't you just negotiate with the players union that they all make minimum wage for the next 5 years? Because I am sure the players union will be more than happy to give the owners a $120 mil, so why not ask for more?

 

[nc0gnet0]

If they don't franchise tag Arob at 16m and let him walk this organization deserves the garbage they put out there.

Arobs franchise tag number is not 16 mil. Your failing to take into account that he is guaranteed either 16 mil (the 2021 number) or 120% of his previous salary, whichever is greater.

 

[HearshotKDS]

While your at it why don't you just negotiate with the players union that they all make minimum wage for the next 5 years? Because I am sure the players union will be more than happy to give the owners a $120 mil, so why not ask for more?

Its saving the players money now at the cost of growth later on - usually the players have more immediate need for money than billionaire owners. The alternative is a bunch of current players (and NFL PA members) get cut as cap casualties and have to enter into the worst FA market in recent memory. But if its a negotiation - 4 year freeze would be $100m in savings, 3 years would be $60m, see where the players are able to get owners to. I believe a cap freeze is a good compromise to save cap money from the covid revenue downturn, while avoiding forcing teams to blow their rosters up from a large cap dip.

 

[Montucky]

View attachment 9754
Tell me again why they can't afford to pay ARob????

Well you are taking an unfair snapshot. Truth is their investment at the wide receiver position has been pretty substantial, they were paying Allen Robinson II a good amount of money and have drafted wide receivers each of the last three drafts. We dont know what they will do with the position this year. There are ways to make keeping Robinson II the wrong move and there are ways of letting him walk be the right move, and vice verse. If the Bears sign Taylor Moton but Allen Robinson II departs in free agency that is probably going to be a big plus for the Bears long-term. Especially if they use twentieth overall on a wide receiver.