Salary cap and 53 man roster

[zabavka]

Maybe someone who understands this can explain it better.

The way I understand it is that after the top 53 salaries, anything under that doesn't count towards the yearly cap.

Is that correct?

If so all the people saying they still have half the team to fill to get to 90 players is going to dig into the cap is kinda bullshit.

A huge percentage of the guys added will be draft picks and undrafted free agents and on top of that the roster will get cut to 53 anyways for the season.

My point is why not use the money to get 1 or 2 higher priced free agents that will stick with the team and be starters instead of throwing out near league minimum one year deals for guys who won't even make the team come September?

 

[vabearsfan15]

I think it is the top 51 guys. But yes, thats how I understand it to be.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Maybe someone who understands this can explain it better.

The way I understand it is that after the top 53 salaries, anything under that doesn't count towards the yearly cap.

Is that correct?

If so all the people saying they still have half the team to fill to get to 90 players is going to dig into the cap is kinda bullshit.

A huge percentage of the guys added will be draft picks and undrafted free agents and on top of that the roster will get cut to 53 anyways for the season.

My point is why not use the money to get 1 or 2 higher priced free agents that will stick with the team and be starters instead of throwing out near league minimum one year deals for guys who won't even make the team come September?

If there is guaranteed money involved, said player will be on the final roster. Year 1 into a rebuild it does not make any sense to sign anyone to a huge contract. Fields is an unknown, I personally think he will be fine but do not blame them for not throwing money around like Pace when your foundation is a giant question mark.

 

[Rise]

Math.

 

[dennehy]

It's 51 that count until the season starts and then 53 during the season.

The Bears are still going to sign more players who will play, I wouldn't worry about that yet.

Only probably 20-25 of the 90 man roster will be from draft or UDFA, and probably a minimum of 6 of those guys will be on the opening day roster. So you're still talking about 10-15 more free agents, and they can sign, or cut, them at any point.

 

[JoJoBoxer]

Maybe someone who understands this can explain it better.

The way I understand it is that after the top 53 salaries, anything under that doesn't count towards the yearly cap.

Is that correct?

If so all the people saying they still have half the team to fill to get to 90 players is going to dig into the cap is kinda bullshit.

A huge percentage of the guys added will be draft picks and undrafted free agents and on top of that the roster will get cut to 53 anyways for the season.

My point is why not use the money to get 1 or 2 higher priced free agents that will stick with the team and be starters instead of throwing out near league minimum one year deals for guys who won't even make the team come September?

You have the basic idea right, but two things:

1. When a player is added, he is probably going to be part of the top 51 unless he is camp fodder. So the cap space will drop with most people who have a real chance of making the team.
2. Poles already told everyone that he is not planning on bringing in high priced free agents. Just because you refuse to accept this does not mean that is what he is going to do. Poles is dealing with a 2022 problem with the cap by signing players that are going to fight for the bottom 15 spots on the roster. I picture him using the cap to sign some of his younger players like Roquan Smith. He is cleaning out the problem areas on the Bears, be it older players or cap problems or ...

 

[HearshotKDS]

There are holes on the roster that need to be filled by someone better than Dakota Dozier, Vildor, NSimba Webster, etc. that while there is a body filling the roster spot there is a giant red flag if the team is relying on that person to play any snaps this season. I think thats where people worry about the cap - its not about hitting it, its about getting competent swing tackles, Cb2, etc. with the leftover money amongst the leftover available options.