How Bears Most Wisely Use Salary Cap Cash

Cutting Eddie Jackson and Cody Whitehair on Thursday left the Bears with $66 million in cap space, according to Overthecap.com.

However, a more accurate figure is $54.86 million.

This represents their effective cap space, according to the same website. Effective cap space is what they'd have with their top 51 in pay and also the projected rookie class. The rookie class isn't added into the projections of $66 million to $70 million posted at various places on the internet.

With $54 million, there is opportunity to cover their roster holes with some quality veterans and reduce pressure on any of their top draft picks to deliver immediately, save for the quarterback position.

If it's Caleb Williams a the quarterback answer, they're going to expect him to immediately produce. Such is the demand for the No. 1 pick in the draft, especially at that position.

Some teams will protect their players with franchise tags and others will find ways to pay players by restructuring veteran contracts and paying out bonus money rather than future salary. Some teams are in such bad cap situations that they won't be able to protect free agents and it's here where a team like the Bears can most easily pluck away productive players.

According to Overthecap.com, the teams in the worst cap situations are the Saints ($87.8 million over the cap), Dolphins ($58.9 million over), Bills ($54.5 million over), Chargers ($55.4 million over), Broncos ($27.9 million over), Cowboys ($22.8 million over) and Browns ($20.8 million over).

Here's how the Bears can best spend free agent money ranked according to need.

1. CB Jaylon Johnson

He's going to get at least $18.8 million, or the cost of the franchise tag so he's taking up a huge chunk of the available effective cap space. In essence, he's going to get paid what they saved by cutting Jackson and Whitehair. If they do what's right, they pay him more than the franchise tag per year and give him an actual contract.

Johnson didn't make many interceptions until last year but delivered when he faced the pressure. So he needs to be paid. This is going to eat up a huge chunk of that $54 million in effective cap space.

2. Edge Rusher/Defensive Tackle

Depending on the player, they could wind up using much of the rest of their cap space on this position so they may need to be careful here. Any way you look at it, they need a complementary pass rusher to Montez Sweat as Gervon Dexter looked nowhere near producing at a high level by the end of his rookie year and Yannick Ngakoue is a free agent who didn't produce like they expected anyway. This could eat up $25 to $30 million but more likely they'd look for more of a pass rush specialist at bit lower rate because they also have 2023 free agent acquisition DeMarcus Walker in the edge rotation. If they found a dominant defensive tackle available, though, they might be more inclined to spend the money because those players are difficult to find in the draft and require development. Edge rush specialists are usually expensive but plentiful.

Examples of dominant defensive tackles would be Kansas City's Chris Jones, who is talking like he'll stay with the Chiefs, Baltimore's Justin Madubuike or Miami's Christian Wilkins. An edge who is projected by Pro Football Focus at that range is Carolina's Brian Burns or Minnesota's Danielle Hunter.

If they want to afford quality at a few positions, it might take signing someone less accomplished for the edge like Sweat's former teammate Chase Young with the 49ers, Houston's Jonathan Greenard or a veteran like former Packers and Vikings edge rusher Za'Darius Smith. Dallas' Dorance Armstrong might be someone to watch, as a lineman with versatility along the front without being one of the most expensive players in free agency.

3. Center

It's important for the Bears to have at least a veteran of average starting quality after several years of sub-par play from this position. However, drafting their own center to train under a capable veteran starter for at least a year would be preferable because this is a position where too much responsibility often leads to rookie failure.

This is a rare year when one of the best centers might be less expensive because of health conditions. Connor Williams suffered a torn ACL in December and might not be available until the regular season. As a result, a player who could normally expect to command eight figures annually could be less. PFF projects $6 million for a one-year deal until Williams is entirely healthy and can then bring in more. If this is true, it could be an ideal situation for a team that drafts a center as well. If they were to sign centers like Lloyd Cushenberry III or Andre James, it would require more money, something in the $12 million range says PFF. However, that would be for multiple years and then they wouldn't need to devote a draft pick to the position.

4. Wide Receiver

The Bears are well positioned to come away with one of the draft's better receivers so pursuing a high-priced receiver makes little sense. It's also an expensive position in free agency for the better receivers. They'd be better off taking the higher quality receiver in the draft and having three or four years of paying less, and then also signing a veteran who would fit in as a third receiver.

They could simply sign Darnell Mooney in that role. If they were really watching what has happened the past year and are certain they need to go to Caleb Williams at quarterback over Justin Fields, then they might realize the reason their No. 2 wide receiver's production dropped so drastically the past two years was both Luke Getsy's offense and Fields' inability to get to the second or third option in his progression. In other words, Mooney was open when he wasn't getting the ball. Later on it appeared he was entirely frustrated. At a projected cost from PFF of $9 million a year, a team might find Mooney to be a bargain in a bounce-back year after he's had an entire offseason to practice with a team. Last year he was coming off ankle surgery and didn't practice until training camp.

Compared to other receivers in that free agency price range, Mooney is very accomplished. An example: Buffalo's Gabe Davis hasn't had the career production Mooney has had and is projected at $12 million a year by PFF. A player like Curtis Samuel might be a better No. 2 option than either. Spotrac.com projects him at $11.5 million a year, and he's a good friend of DJ Moore's. A receiver corps of Moore, a top rookie and Samuel, as well as Kmet, would be quite an arsenal for a rookie QB with a live arm or even for a veteran who is retained while they trade down for picks, should they make this choice.

5. Safety

They created this need by cutting Eddie Jackson's big paycheck and now must cope with the loss of a veteran starter. It's more likely they would draft a player, but there's no certainty a draft pick would be someone who starts at the outset because their third pick isn't until No. 75. They have two fourth-rounders, which would seem a good spot to draft a safety. It's where they drafted Jackson. However, Day 3 is a coin toss and anticipating they can do what Jackson did as an starter is making a big assumption. For this reason, they need to keep an eye out for a bargain safety. A safety like Jordan Whitehead or Jordan Fuller, projected in the $6 million to $7 million a year range, along with a drafted safety would be wise. The Bears have operated without much safety depth the last two years and it would be a wise investment to draft one and have a capable veteran with an eye on economy.

6. Punt Returner

This could be a combination position with wide receiver or back or defensive back. Punt returner Trent Taylor did little better than Dante Pettis had done the previous year, and he was no success story, either. They could use a real threat back on punt return and this usually doesn't cost much .

7. Long Snapper

This is a minor expense and if they choose to go forward with free agent Patrick Scales at age 36, he'll get around $1.5 million based on what he was making and market conditions.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven