One of the biggest challenges of this 2021 offseason will be navigating what’s sure to be a precarious salary cap situation for all teams, especially the Chicago Bears.
Following a COVID-19 season, the salary cap is expected to decrease by as much as $22 million to around $175 million. According to reports, it might actually be $180 million, which isn’t idea but is certainly better than previously believed. That still puts general manager Ryan Pace in a tough place with a slew of roster spots to full and not a whole lot of cap space to do it.
Something that should help a little is the Bears will also roll over $7,042,995 to the 2021 season, which brings their cap space total to roughly $10.5 million, according to Spotrac.
A look at how much cap space each NFL team rolled over to 2021, from the Browns ($30,366,604) to the Ravens ($586,822).
The NFL will audit these amounts after calculating incentives and cap credits from this year. The final amounts will be added to each team's cap for 2021. pic.twitter.com/cKen1bbgJ5
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 20, 2021
It’s always a challenge when it comes to the salary cap, but it’s going to be made even more difficult with the cap decreasing. Which means Pace is going to have to get creative with making some changes in regards to cutting players and restructuring contracts, especially given the Bears have plenty of vacant positions to fill this offseason. The Bears currently have 30 players set to hit the free-agent market.
