Bears Hunt for More Cap Space

Clarity is finally at hand for the salary cap situation facing the Chicago Bears and with it comes a little more obvious path to the future.

According to Spotrac.com, the Bears possess $1.821 million in available cap space as they head toward the draft. This is more definitive because they no longer have an outstanding contract to count against their totals.

The contract terms for running back Damien Williams, linebacker Christian Jones and cornerback Desmond Trufant hadn't been made public but now are available on Spotrac.

Jones' one-year deal went for $1.075 million with a $137,500 bonus. Williams, the former Kansas City Chiefs running back, signed on for $1 million with a bonus of $125,000.

Trufant was signed to replace Kyle Fuller and will receive $1.075 million.

There are ways for the Bears to elevate their cap total beyond $1.821 million, and they will need to for operating expenses as well as to sign draft picks. They have eight picks this year.

One way would be to give wide receiver Allen Robinson the contract he has been looking for, which would allow the Bears to turn what he receives this year into cash counted against their cap in the future with a bonus protated over five years.

In that case, it would be safe to anticipate a contract extension and a franchise tag elimination for Robinson in coming weeks.

This would create a huge amount of space.

There are other ways.

Depending on the draft and the ability to find a tackle in it, the Bears could cut left tackle Charles Leno Jr. after June 1 and save $9 million or save $6.2 million before June 1 with such a move. His deal has $8.9 million in salary so they could also restructure it to burden their cap space in future years, but then they might need to keep Leno in the future even if they draft a tackle.

They could do the same type of thing with Akiem Hicks' $10.4 million in salary, but cutting him would mean they'd be out a key defensive lineman. Keeping him with a restructured deal means planning on having a defensive lineman into his mid 30s.

The most likely avenue to obtain money to pay for in-coming draft picks is the Robinson deal. Anything they do with Hicks might also include a trade, and there have been plenty of such rumors throughout the offseason.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven