Bear Digest

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of 2026 Chicago Bears Salary Cap

The bigger 2026 cap still requires prioritizing for the Bears because they're now in a different salary cap situation than in their free-spending past.
Gene Chamberlain|
Cole Kmet and his home run swing after TDs are fan favorites at Soldier Field but his departure looks likely for cost reasons.
Cole Kmet and his home run swing after TDs are fan favorites at Soldier Field but his departure looks likely for cost reasons. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Bears offseasons start with scouting the all-star games and the NFL Scouting Combine.

Presiding over all of it is the NFL salary cap, but in the Ryan Poles GM era there has been more fiscal responsibility. At least it has been this way until now.

As Super Bowl week was about to begin, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported the cap will be between $301.2 and $305.7 million, the first cap over $300 million and an increase of about $22 million to $25 million from last year.

This sounds like a great boom for teams like the Bears, who have been reported as being above the salary cap and still need to add talent, particularly on defense.

The problem is the offseason projections have all been taking an increased cap into account and were not far off of this league-generated amount.

Overthecap.com had projected the Bears to be at 10.7 million over and when this figure came out it meant they actually would be over by $9.6 million.

The NFL cap is softer than in some other leagues because of how bonus money can be prorated into future years.

The Bears enjoyed a spot near the top of the league in available cap space back in 2022 when Ryan Poles took over as GM but now he'll need to deal with cash constraints like many playoff tams must after spending to bring in players.

Here is the good, the bad and the ugly about the 2026 Bears salary cap.

The Good

Low dead cap

The Bears are among the 10 fewest teams in dead cap space.

Dead money happens if a team cuts or trades someone who has guaranteed money that has been prorated against their cap into the future. So, it’s basically anyone who plays key roles as starters or reserves who they have on their payroll. This amount will still count against the cap once they're gone if the contract hasn’t expired, and by rule if they're traded it will count immediately against the cap, depending on what time of year it happens.

Teams with a lot of dead cap can look like they're fiscally healthy and can participate in free agent signings because they got under the cap by the NFL’s March deadline, but they won’t be if too much of it is eating away at overall cap space from within like a cancer as dead cap. They can't use the space. The Bears have only $593,000 dead cap, unlike when Ryan Pace was GM and they handed out guaranteed money in stacks to players who weren't good and had to be cut or traded.

The Jets, for instance, have $75.6 million of dead cap on the books. The Saints have $65 million and the Eagles have $44.8 million. Good luck with that. Better draft well because young talent is cheap talent in the NFL.

Bears cap responsibility

Although only seven teams have worse cap situations on paper, the Bears also have a good number of players whose cap hit is mostly salary.

Because they haven't been giving out huge amounts of bonus money in relation to salaries, it allows them to take some cash on salaries and convert it into guaranteed bonus money.

This can then be prorated against future salary caps while the player receives the actual money now. This is restructuring. They can essentially use these "loans" to not only get below the cap by the start of the new league year and comply with league rules but also if they recoup enough they can bring in free agent help.

The warning is they better be players who will be productive and not busts because when they must be cut, that's when the dead cap occurs.

Contracts like those for Montez Sweat ($20.9 million salary), Jaylon Johnson ($15.05 million), Tremaine Edmunds ($13.9 million) and DJ Moore ($23.48 million) can be used for regaining cap space if they're restructured with more bonus money instead of salary. There are numerous others.

Next year

If their cap for 2027 was like the 49ers, who have only $9.9 million available then, or Dallas and its $20.6 million, floating restructured bonus money out over future years would be more difficult.

However, Overthecap.com says the Bears have $69.6 million for 2027 and it offers plenty of

space to put bonus money on restructures.

The NFC North

While the Bears are currently over the cap, they're not going to run up against teams spending like drunken sailors in their own division because they have incredibly huge cap wallets for free agency. They're well ahead of the Vikings, who are projected at $40.9 million over the cap. The Lions are close to where the Bears are with $8.7 million over. The Packers are also over the cap by a projected $2.6 million according to Overthecap.com.

Caleb Williams

He's going into his third year and still taking up only a $10.8 million cap hit. The day is fast approaching when he needs that huge extension, but not yet.

As long as that's the case they can more easily afford to bring in free agents.

The Bad

So many needs

Although they went 11-6 and won a playoff game, the Bears' flaws became obvious long before season's end. Their cap situation may not allow them to easily cover those up unless they get major contributions again from rookies.

The biggest problems are on the defensive line, where rookies frequently get lost and even good ones take time to develop. Especially at defensive tackle this is the case, and the Bears' bigger need is at tackle. Their edge rush need exists but it's more a case where they need extra's who are effective to fit into the rotation.

Too many cases in the past they have had Montez Sweat and nobody else providing an edge rush, or Sweat and Austin Booker and nobody else. The third and fourth edges need to be contributing. The tackles, especially need to contribute in a time when teams throw so many times on three-step or five-step drops to make it tough for edges to reach the QB.

They could use a veteran left tackle as a fill-in until Ozzy Trapilo can play again after his patellar tendon injury, but this always comes with expense.

They have no safeties under contract and free agent Kevin Byard won't be cheap after attaining All-Pro status for the third time.

Prioritizing

When Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson sit down an prioritize who best fits their plans, they’re going to find some long-time valued contributors who might be less critical to what they do on the field now and are getting paid at premium levels.  It’s no knock on their play, but with limited cap space available, a way to clear space is cut players who are not guaranteed a lot of money in the future and can be easily replaced. It’s a tough thing.

The perfect example: Cole Kmet has done everything ever asked of him very well but Colston Loveland is a better downfield target, actually blocked better as a rookie according to Pro Football Focus,  and is more necessary to this offense. The second tight end shouldn’t be eating up big chunks of cap space. Kmet is No. 11 in cap space for this year at 3.82% according to Spotrac.com. His $12.5 million average annual cost is tied for seventh most in the NFL for tight ends. This is why so many people are saying he could be traded or cut.

Prioritizing is a difficult thing for fans but especially players.

The ugly

Less productive expenditures

Too many of their big-ticket free agency contracts with guaranteed money failed for various reasons last year, but their deals make it difficult to cut them and get cap relief.

Dayo Odeyingbo is their fifth-highest cap hit for this year and not only did he have no impact when he played in 2025, his return from an Achilles tear is not immediately guaranteed. With his contract, the Bears would take a huge $23.5 million hit by cutting him before June 1, almost all of it dead cap. If they cut him after June 1, they would have a net loss of $14.5 million.

Another of those was Grady Jarrett. He will be 33 this season. Although he came on when healthy at season's end, it would cost them $21 million in dead cap plus another $2.07 million if he's cut. The savings wouldn't be much after June 1, as they would get back $1.92 million per Overthecap.com, but cutting him would take up $17 million then in dead cap.

Basically, letting either Odeyingbo or Jarrett go would let them get under the cap. However, it would be destructive to plans to improve their roster in free agency because it would cause dead cap space, which limits available cap. There are ways to soften this, but it involves turning the cap into a Ryan Pace type of structure and starting a cycle of destruction.

Capflation

The cap goes up, so does demand. Quarterbacks, Edge rushers, tackles, cornerbacks and defensive tackles can cost the most. The Bears need edge rush, defensive tackle and tackle help.

The Bears have 15.5% of their cap dedicated to edge rushers. That's no small amount. Only the Giants, Steelers, 49ers, Packers and Texans spend more. The Steelers spend the most at 24.11% ($68.1 million).

The Bears are spending $49.8 million for it. And they're going to bring in someone like Trey Hendrickson or Maxx Crosby?

Nice things cost more from year to year as the demand goes up. For instance, the Steelers were leading the NFL three years ago in defensive end spending per Spotrac.com. It was $30 million less than what they'll spend this season.

Teams might have more space but players' agents are always going to demand more of the pie for clients.

The Bears made smart moves on offense because of the Ben Johnson-Poles collaboration last offseason. Now they're going to need to prove they can do this on the defensive side, and this is not their coach's area of expertise.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.