adam Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 The math can begin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 Bears are $17.5M over the cap with ARob's tag. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/chicago-bears/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 Graham cut saves $7M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearFan PHX Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 cutting Leno as a post June first cap saves us $9M on the cap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 If they extend Robinson and cut his cap hit down a few, plus cut Leno and Graham, they would be under the cap, but not able to sign any FAs or their rookies. So they will have to do some work with Mack, Fuller, Hicks, Jackson, and Whitehair to free up some additional cap for some free agents and rookies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearFan PHX Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 yeah Fuller is in the spotlight for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 7 minutes ago, BearFan NYC said: yeah Fuller is in the spotlight for sure. His is really easy as long as he is willing to do it. He has 3 years left on his deal, $20M this year, then only $1.5M left each of the next two years. Thanks GB. So the Bears can convert most of it into a signing bonus (convert $18M to bonus, w/$2M base), then spread the hit over the next 3 years, converting the cap hits into $8M in 2021, $7.5M in 2022, and $7.5M in 2023. That saves $12M right there and doesn't really cost the Bears anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 For Mack, it looks like they can push back about $4M without too much risk. Jackson's deal is actually pretty good for the Bears. He only has $10M guaranteed remaining on his deal (all this year), and nothing afterwards. So the Bears could save a couple of million and give him a little more guaranteed by converting salary to bonus. It looks like they can save $2-3M with a restructure. Whitehair can save about $1M this year without much risk. So with these 3, I can see no more than $8M in savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearFan PHX Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 5 minutes ago, adam said: His is really easy as long as he is willing to do it. He has 3 years left on his deal, $20M this year, then only $1.5M left each of the next two years. Thanks GB. So the Bears can convert most of it into a signing bonus (convert $18M to bonus, w/$2M base), then spread the hit over the next 3 years, converting the cap hits into $8M in 2021, $7.5M in 2022, and $7.5M in 2023. That saves $12M right there and doesn't really cost the Bears anything. wow I didnt realize he had such a low back end. Great news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 So between Fuller, Mack, Jackson, and Whitehair, the Bears could potentially save around $20M in cap with somewhat safe restructures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 Just now, BearFan NYC said: wow I didnt realize he had such a low back end. Great news. Yeah, me either, GB did that crazy deal with all the front end money, which now makes him a prime candidate for a restructure with low risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 By Joseph Herff After franchise tagging Allen Robinson, the Chicago Bears are $19.7 million over the projected cap space according to Over The Cap. The projected salary cap for 2021 is roughly $188 million on Over The Cap as well. The Bears already freed up some cap space immediately by releasing nickel cornerback Buster Skrine and starting right tackle Bobby Massie. Both of these releases saved the Bears a bit of money, but not much, and additionally left a hole at a major position (right tackle). Alex Bars may be able to fill that hole, or they can fill it via the 2021 NFL draft as this tackle class is extremely deep. Nickel cornerback should be fine as Duke Shelley showed promise and they can have Kindle Vildor and Tre Roberson compete with him for the starting job. This is another position they should be fine at but should address in the draft. But at -$19.7 million over the cap, many think it is impossible for the Bears to make it work. The New Orleans Saints though year after year put themselves into a cap issue and get out of it. They truly are the masters at it as they were around $60 million over the cap this offseason and just franchise tagged Marcus Williams. How do they do it? Plenty of different ways they do it and the Bears need to incorporate those same ideas this offseason. Pace needs to use his New Orleans connections and do the same thing here. The Chicago Bears can open up more cap space with contract restructures The biggest way the Saints open up money is through restructures. A contract restructure is not a pay cut as many think. Basically, a team restructures the contract by converting base salary and other bonuses to a signing bonus. The signing bonus is paid out in a lump sum and accounted for on the remaining years of the contract rather than the current season. Essentially, this pushes money back and the Saints basically rely on the idea that each season the cap space is going to increase. This season caused them more trouble as the cap space actually decreased due to COVID. So, the Bears can do this with plenty of players. Here are some of the prime candidates to do it with: Khalil Mack, OLB — $12.9 million Kyle Fuller, CB — $9 million Robert Quinn, OLB — $8.7 million Eddie Jackson, S — $6.8 million Charles Leno, OT — $6 million Cody Whitehair, OG/C — $4.9 million Eddie Goldman, DT — $3.2 million Nick Foles, QB — $2 million Danny Trevathan — $2.6 million These obviously all won’t happen. These are just the prime candidates that would garner the Bears the most amount of cap space for the 2021 offseason. If the Bears potentially restructured every one of these players, the Bears would have $29 million in cap space for this offseason, plenty to add Russell Wilson and more talent as you can restructure Wilson as well. It has already been reported that the Bears are going to probably restructure both Whitehair and Jackson. Trades could free up cap space and gain draft picks for the Chicago Bears The other big way to open up cap space is through trading a player away. This would open up even more holes for the Bears but could allow them to get more draft capital to fill more needs or even use that capital to trade for Russell Wilson. There aren’t as many trade candidates for this offseason for the Bears, but a few would save them a lot of money. Here are some potential trade candidates. Kyle Fuller, CB — $11 million 2021 First/Second-Round Pick Allen Robinson, WR — $18 million 2021 First/Second-Round Pick Akiem Hicks, DT — $10.5 million 2021 Third/Fifth-Round Pick Nick Foles, QB — $1.3 million 2021 Fifth/Seventh-round pick Again, this isn’t calling for all of these players to be traded. These are just candidates for the idea. Some players like Allen Robinson may not want to be here given his contract issues here and his constant complaining about the Bears and the franchise tag. Additionally, some players like Hicks and Fuller could help win-now teams that need one more piece to help their team. Both of them still have high value as well despite them getting older. If the Bears traded away these players, that would open up the Bears’ cap space to $21 million. See how well that works? It’s easy to manipulate the cap. Some players could be cut as well to open up cap space The Bears already got started on this by cutting Buster Skrine and Bobby Massie, but there are even more candidates the Bears can cut to open up more space. It won’t be easy, but the Bears can dump off some failed players while additionally getting bad players out. They likely will have to make some difficult cuts as well. Charles Leno, OT — $6.2 million Jimmy Graham, TE — $7 million Anthony Miller, WR — $1.2 million Joel Iyiegbuniwe, ILB — $920k Javon Wims, WR — $920k Repeating myself again, but I am not calling for all of these guys to be cut. Releasing some of these players though can open up more cap space and will allow the Bears to add more to their space by getting rid of issues within the locker room. With both Skrine and Massie being cut, those were two of the prime cut candidates given their current playing states as they both were aging and struggled the last few seasons. Massie played solid last season but didn’t play much due to an injury. What should the Chicago Bears do then? Here should be the plan for the Bears to open up a great amount of cap space: Restructures: Khalil Mack, OLB — $12.9 Kyle Fuller, CB — $9 million Robert Quinn, OLB — $8.7 million Eddie Jackson, S — $6.8 million Charles Leno, OT — $6 million Cody Whitehair, OG/C — $4.9 million Eddie Goldman, DT — $3.2 million Total Cap Space: $26 million Trades: Allen Robinson, WR — $18 million 2021 First/Second Round Pick Akiem Hicks, DT — $10.5 million 2021 Third/Fifth Round Pick Total Cap Space: $54 million Cuts: Jimmy Graham, TE — $7 million Bring him back cheap Anthony Miller, WR — $1.2 million Javon Wims, WR — $920k Total Cap Space: $64 million And just like that, I opened up $64 million in cap space while gaining ideally a first-round pick and fourth-round pick. I’d have the money to pay Kenny Golladay at a discounted rate of Allen Robinson. I then could trade for Russell Wilson and use the first-round gained from Robinson and restructure his deal. NEXT: Chicago Bears: Kyle Long announces a return to the NFL This could leave the Bears with potentially still plenty of picks to address slot wide receiver, defensive tackle, and right tackle while adding depth to other key positions like safety, cornerback, inside linebacker, and wide receiver. All in all, don’t be worried about cap space. It isn’t ever something to be worried about as the Saints have shown that time and time again that you can dig out of the hole each year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 To summarize, Restructure Fuller, Mack, Jackson, and Whitehair = save $20M Cut Leno and Graham = save $16M Extend ARob = save $1-2M That would give the Bears $18-22M in cap space for free agency and rookie pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Grizzly Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 Why ‘cut Graham’? Is it simply for the cash savings? He was the only reliable receiver in the TE room (and third overall after ARob and Mooney?). He had 8 TDs (led the team) last year which was 3 more than he got in his two years combined while at GB...with Rodgers throwing to him. This smells of Greg Olsen all over agin. Now if you’re talking about resigning/restructuring him in some way then ok... And reading the article Mongo posted brought up how New Orleans is habitually over the cap and somehow manages to come out of it. I’m assuming that’s where Pace learned this from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearFan PHX Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 all good stuff, except at the very end, he lists needs and doesnt say anything about OLT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 32 minutes ago, BearFan NYC said: all good stuff, except at the very end, he lists needs and doesnt say anything about OLT. He restructures Leno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 39 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said: Why ‘cut Graham’? Is it simply for the cash savings? He was the only reliable receiver in the TE room (and third overall after ARob and Mooney?). He had 8 TDs (led the team) last year which was 3 more than he got in his two years combined while at GB...with Rodgers throwing to him. This smells of Greg Olsen all over agin. Now if you’re talking about resigning/restructuring him in some way then ok... And reading the article Mongo posted brought up how New Orleans is habitually over the cap and somehow manages to come out of it. I’m assuming that’s where Pace learned this from. It is a trade-off. He is almost non-existent between the 20s, where most of the game is played. If you had to only keep one of ARob or Graham, it is a no-brainer. However, if he was willing to add an extra year to his deal and knock off a couple of mil on his current cap hit, I wouldn't be opposed to that. I think it still comes back to who the QB is going to be. They would have to clear a ton of space to bring in someone like Wilson or Watson, which seems highly unlikely unless the team traded away players with a minimal dead cap with high cap hits (Hicks is only one that fits that bill). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Grizzly Posted March 11, 2021 Report Share Posted March 11, 2021 5 hours ago, adam said: I think it still comes back to who the QB is going to be. They would have to clear a ton of space to bring in someone like Wilson or Watson, which seems highly unlikely unless the team traded away players with a minimal dead cap with high cap hits (Hicks is only one that fits that bill). I’ve seen some pretty wild ideas on how to clear space and make a trade for Wilson (as a ‘for example’) proposed. It involved this year’s first, one or two key defensive players (like Hicks, Mack, Jackson or R. Smith) and Foles thrown in for good measure. As much as I’d hate to de-structure the defense (I wouldn’t think all those players would leave at once) I’d still endorse that before just cutting a guy like Graham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearFan PHX Posted March 11, 2021 Report Share Posted March 11, 2021 7 hours ago, adam said: He restructures Leno. right, and doesnt consider it a need. smh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkerBear7 Posted March 11, 2021 Report Share Posted March 11, 2021 10 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said: Why ‘cut Graham’? Is it simply for the cash savings? He was the only reliable receiver in the TE room (and third overall after ARob and Mooney?). He had 8 TDs (led the team) last year which was 3 more than he got in his two years combined while at GB...with Rodgers throwing to him. This smells of Greg Olsen all over agin. Now if you’re talking about resigning/restructuring him in some way then ok... And reading the article Mongo posted brought up how New Orleans is habitually over the cap and somehow manages to come out of it. I’m assuming that’s where Pace learned this from. I agree Alaskan, I thought Jimmy played well last year and I admittedly didn’t have high expectations when he was signed. Would like Graham to restructure and finish career with Bears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger226 Posted March 11, 2021 Report Share Posted March 11, 2021 17 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said: Why ‘cut Graham’? Is it simply for the cash savings? He was the only reliable receiver in the TE room (and third overall after ARob and Mooney?). He had 8 TDs (led the team) last year which was 3 more than he got in his two years combined while at GB...with Rodgers throwing to him. This smells of Greg Olsen all over agin. Now if you’re talking about resigning/restructuring him in some way then ok... And reading the article Mongo posted brought up how New Orleans is habitually over the cap and somehow manages to come out of it. I’m assuming that’s where Pace learned this from. I was top of the list on complaining about giving Graham a money contract but he was worth it. The problem with Graham is we need the cap space and he is a 7 mil cut. Maybe he takes adding on a year and cutting he cost but how many vets do that? We have to get cap space to even be able to draft anybody(rookie salaries) and pay for Robinson. Someone has to go. Who. Easy to say Leno(Massie is gone) but you have to replace those players that will cost something. As much as Leno has to be upgraded, I think they keep him one more year and just grab a rookie that plays RT for at least this year. Bars is still around and has the body of a LT. I would like to see him takes Lenos job but not sure if that is a upgrade. Defensively( if we dont cut anybody) will be better just with adding Goldman back and then sign a cheap safety. Also remember Jordon Lucas (S) opted out last year and he was going to compete for a starter job. Maybe he can do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Grizzly Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 13 hours ago, Stinger226 said: The problem with Graham is we need the cap space and he is a 7 mil cut. Maybe he takes adding on a year and cutting he cost but how many vets do that? So I meant to organize this differently but - dang iPhone. I found the top link while looking for a story I saw about Jimmy Graham wanting to finish his career on Chicago. But apparently a few days ago he was in a vehicle accident. Fortunately it appears he came out of it ok. Here’s the story I originally was looking for which tells me he might be open to restructuring his deal: https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2021/02/05/jimmy-graham-wants-finish-career-chicago-bears/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger226 Posted March 13, 2021 Report Share Posted March 13, 2021 Somebody paid him 16 mil for two years at his age, damn straight he wants to stay here. I would not mind having him back but not at his 10 mil for this year. 5 mil a year would be okay. Maybe they cut him and then give him a two year 5 mil a year contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger226 Posted March 13, 2021 Report Share Posted March 13, 2021 Does somebody know the rules for actions done now and how can you wait until after June 1 to designate it. I think if the Wilson traded happen in the next few weeks, you cant designate it to a post June 1 trade. I always see cuts being post but you can do that with trades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted March 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2021 On 3/10/2021 at 9:56 AM, adam said: So between Fuller, Mack, Jackson, and Whitehair, the Bears could potentially save around $20M in cap with somewhat safe restructures. I was close, so Mack, Jackson and Whitehair are clearing $23M in cap space, nothing about Fuller makes me think he may be part of an impending trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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