High Payback and Less Cash for These Bears

The Bears salary cap was nothing but low-cost players last year but few real bargains because those players didn't produce, and this year it could be different.

There are valuable players and then there are values.

If an NFL team can bring both together in the same player, they've got a real bargain for at least that season.

Many rookies are potential bargains because of lower cost, but teams don't really know what they have in those players until they actually perform.

Every team has players at cut-rate prices who will do plenty to further their cause. The Bears had one last year in running back David Montgomery. They had both their leading rusher among running backs, best pass-blocking back and one of their best receivers on the team in one player who was still on his first contract.

There are more on this year's roster according to Spotrac.com figures.

Here are the top Bears bargains for 2023.

10. WR Chase Claypool

It's tough to rate Claypool higher than this because of the fact he cost the Bears the first pick of Round 2 in the draft, although that's definitely not his fault. Claypool has shown the potential to be a player who breaks open games and is at $2.99 million in cap cost, which puts him at 258th overall among offensive players. He is costing the Bears only 1.29% of their cap, but is up for a contract extension. It's all in his hands whether he gets it by proving himself. Too much is uncertain for Claypool to be considered a bigger bargain. Even his off-season has the air of uncertainty with three weeks missed due to what was believed to be a soft-tissue injury.

9. RB D'Onta Foreman

All running backs are bargains these days. Foreman is coming off a year when he almost hit 1,000 yards for the first time. He fits their scheme and is expected to share carries with Khalil Herbert, yet he signed for only a cap cost of $2 million this year. Lurking behind is rookie fourth-rounder Roschon Johnson who might take carries away from both Foreman and Herbert. If it sounds a bit like the Mike Davis situation of a few years ago, when he signed for comparable money and wound up on the street in a few weeks, well if it quacks like a duck...  He's on a prove-it deal, but he's doing it at age 27. It's the lot in life for running backs these days.

8. LB Jack Sanborn

Undrafted starters always rate high among pocketbook pleasers. Sanborn might be a top-five guy in this group except for the fact they don't know his role for certain this year after he was middle linebacker in six games last year. Sanborn could be the starting strongside but hasn't even practiced yet and there is some good competition ahead for him at camp. Also, the strongside linebacker is on the field less than half the snaps in this defensive scheme. Sanborn's $877,000 is so low it doesn't even count him among the top 51 cap hits used for determining where a team is at in relation to the league cap, although that would change obviously once he makes the team.

7. TE Cole Kmet

Until last year Kmet might not have made any type of bargain list, but seven touchdown catches proved he could do what the Bears brought him to Chicago to do and that's provide a great red-zone target. Six of his TD catches came in the red zone. He picked up the slack as a target for quarterback Justin Fields when injuries took Darnell Mooney out of the lineup and when Claypool proved unable to quickly pick up the Bears offense. Kmet's cap cost of $3.76 million for this year is 1.62% of the Bears' cap and he ranks 213th among offensive players in the league and 25th among tight ends.

6. CB Jaylon Johnson

Johnson is one of the first players the Bears should come to about a contract extension but considering how much he does and has done for them, it's possible the demands might be a little high. With a cap cost of $3.559 million this year, he comes in at 202nd among the NFL's defensive players in terms of cap cost and is 14th highest overall on the team. He is at 1.53% of their cap space for this year despite being a cornerback who often gets put on the opposition's top receiver in order to take them out of the game. Sometimes he gets an impossible job done, sometimes he doesn't, and he doesn't get enough takeaways but that's largely due to the difficult assignment he's had.

5. S Jaquan Brisker

In his second, year, Brisker won't count even 1% of the Bears cap space (.072%) at a $1.67 million cap hit, yet he did more for them than numerous other players as a rookie. He made more sacks than anyone with four despite blitzing only 15 times, and he had the most tackles of any player returning to the team this year. A Pro Football Focus All-Rookie team player, Brisker also ranked third in tackles for loss, despite being a safety. He says he has barely begun to scratch the surface in pass coverage heading into Year 2.

4. WR Darnell Mooney

As a third-year player who was a fifth-round draft pick, Mooney has produced far beyond expectations by averaging 67 catches and 726 yards over three seasons despite missing five games last year due to injuries. His cost is only 1.32% of the Bears cap this year and that's 247th among offensive players in the league. Ironically, his cap cost for offensive players ranks only one place below that of the player he broke into the league playing with, Allen Robinson. Mooney deserves a contract extension and has proven it in Chicago. He rates only 15th highest cap cost for the team after three years as being one of their most valuable players.

3. T Braxton Jones

Teams often devote first-round picks to protecting a right-handed quarterback's blind side and the Bears have a fifth-rounder there. So they are reaping the reward of finding a player they think rates among the better young players at the position. Jones as a rookie was a top-20 tackle regardless of the side of the ball, according to Pro Football Focus' grading. So as a fifth-rounder in Year 2 of his deal he is only at a cap cost of $944,888, or 0.41% of the Bears cap. Even Nsimba Webster, Daurice fountain, Terrell Lewis and Andrew Brown rate higher for cost than Jones, should they make the team.

2. RB Khalil Herbert

No one can be certain yet whether Herbert is going to be the type of receiver out of the backfield David Montgomery was but he already showed what kind of a back he is by averaging an NFL best for running backs of 5.7 yards per carry. He has caught 82.1% of throws his way (23 of 28) so there's little reason to think he can't contribute in the passing game. Despite these qualities, Herbert, a sixth-round pick, is at $972,677 for cap cost this year and that's only 0.42% of the overall Bears salary cap. He ranks 88th among NFL running in this regard, and 657th among all NFL players on offense. He's still a season away from being up for a contract extension.

1. QB Justin Fields

Now in his third season, he costs the Bears $5,146,897 against their cap this year. It is the ninth-highest cap hit they have but for that price he is only 2.21% of their salary cap and that percentage ranks him 169th in the NFL among offensive players and 27th among quarterbacks. For that, they have their leading rusher, the NFL's leader in yards per carry, their leading passer and overall team leader. If only he also kicked. That's called squeezing all of the juice out of the orange. Consider what the Bears could be paying for him in future years if this season goes the way they hope, and right now he easily rates their biggest bargain.

Fields ranks fourth overall on the Sports Illustrated list of 10 players who could define this NFL season. You don't find many players who cost $5.1 million against the cap carrying around such weight.

QB 1 is also Bargain 1 for the Bears.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven