One of the challenges facing the Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL in 2021 is the salary ceiling, which will decrease due to financial losses from COVID-19.
The NFL and NFLPA previously negotiated a $ 175 million floor for the salary cap. But the two sides agreed to raise the floor to $ 180 million, giving the teams a little more wiggle room. While that’s not the final amount – ESPN believes it could go up to $ 185 million – that will likely be announced in March, it gives teams a sense of what the salary cap will look like.
But what does that mean for the Chicago Bears in 2021?
If the salary cap holds, the Bears will be $ 2.5 million above the cap by 2021, Over The Cap said. That means general manager Ryan Pace has to make some decisions related to restructuring deals and cutting players to free up cap space.
“We need to be aware,” Pace said in January of the salary cap situation. “Obviously, as you know every year, there are ways to create capspace and those are all important decisions we have to make.
“It actually starts with that, evaluating our own schedule and talking about some of those things. That is real.”
Some potential cap victims include Jimmy Graham ($ 7 million), right tackle Bobby Massie ($ 5.4 million), left tackle Charles Leno ($ 6.2 million), cornerback Buster Skrine ($ 2.7 million) and recipient Anthony Miller ($ 1.2 million)
Since the Bears have about 30 free agents this low season, Pace has his work cut out for him, especially as some of those free agents should be prioritized, including recipients Allen Robinson and Cordarrelle Patterson, as well as kicker Cairo Santos.