Bear Digest

Prominent salary cap casualties show value of Chicago Bears free agency prudence

Some of the top free-agent targets the Chicago Bears missed out on in the past have now become salary cap casualties for the teams that signed them. Ryan Poles was smart not to overspend.
Lorin Cox|
San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave jogs on the field before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium
San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave jogs on the field before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has a reputation for not overspending in free agency.

Some of the teams that outbid Poles for past free agents are proving that he was wise not to break the bank for the top names.

A few of the more expensive free agents the Bears pursued in the past have now become cap casualties for the teams they ended up signing with.

This week, the Seattle Seahawks released defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones, who they signed to a three-year, $51.4 million contract in 2023.

Chicago was in the market for defensive linemen that offseason, and Jones was among their top options in free agency.

Poles wasn't willing to pay over $17 million a year for him, and the team ended up signing DeMarcus Walker for $7 million a year instead.

In the same free agent period, the Bears also pursued defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who signed an even larger deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers announced earlier this offseason that they will be releasing Hargrave and designating him as a post-June 1st cut to spread out the salary cap hit.

The Seahawks will pay over $14 million in dead money on their salary cap this year for releasing Jones. Hargrave will cost the 49ers $8.6 million this year and over $17 million next year to not play for the team.

Poles might not have hit a home run with the signing of Walker (and later Yannick Ngakoue) that offseason, but he saved the Bears future salary cap trouble by not overspending on free agents like Jones and Hargrave.

So it might be hard to swallow if Chicago doesn't fork over top dollar to sign free agents like Khalil Mack or Josh Sweat this offseason, but Poles will have the team's long-term financial interests in mind by sticking to his numbers and not overspending.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the host of the Locked on Bears podcast and has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2016. He is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus and has written for NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today's Bears Wire. You can follow him on Twitter @CoxSports1.

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