Chicago – First, teams with a lot of salary-cap space want to reinvest in their own players. Building from within is always a better option than chasing veterans in free agency, when teams sometimes end up paying too much for players who are available for a reason.
The Chicago Bears have a solid cap situation going into a seismic summer. At $36.6 million, they have the eighth-most “effective cap space,” according to overthecap.com. After a team has signed its projected rookie class and satisfied the “Rule of 51,” effective cap space considers where the team will stand for summer bookkeeping reasons. That contains the first and ninth picks in the draft for the Bears.
The Bears number is anticipated to increase. A further $21 million in contract space would be available if free safety Eddie Jackson and offensive lineman Cody Whitehair were released. Ryan Poles, the general manager, therefore has ample leeway to achieve his objectives for the upcoming round of roster building.
Negotiations to keep cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was selected to the Pro Bowl Games and was a second-team All-Pro following a stellar season that included a career-high four interceptions, are likely to start the process.
Poles declared this week that “Jaylon’s not going to go anywhere,” which is a clear indication that the Bears are ready to deploy the franchise tag in the event that they are unable to reach an agreement on a multiyear deal before the window ends. Teams have from February 20 to March 5 to apply the tag.
It is anticipated that cornerbacks will have a franchise tag of approximately $18.8 million in 2024. This would provide a starting point for contract negotiations and purchase an additional five months to reach a longer-term agreement. In the past ten years, the Bears have placed the transition tag on cornerback Kyle Fuller in 2018 and applied the franchise tag to wide receivers Allen Robinson in 2021 and Alshon Jeffery in 2016.
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