Latest Chicago Bears 2021 Salary Cap Projections Don't Look Great

The Chicago Bears 2021 salary cap has remained a major topic of conversation for the past several months. Normally it wouldn't be. GM Ryan Pace has always done a good job of keeping the team's money situation relatively stable. However, there's no way he could've predicted the arrival of COVID-19 and the impact it would have on the entire financial infrastructure of the NFL. Most believe that the absence of full crowds at stadiums will have a drastic impact on the revenue expected for 2020. That could lead to a gigantic plunge of the cap next year. So the league and Players Association came together on an agreement. Regardless of the final totals, the cap would not be allowed to drop any further than $175 million. Still, that is a drop of over $23 million. For teams with high payrolls, it means they could be looking at some deep cuts in order to regain financial flexibility. Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap put this in perspective for the Bears. Accord to his latest projections, the team figures to be $7.7 million in the red next spring. A sobering reminder that big changes are on the horizon.

Chicago Bears 2021 salary cap will require sacrifices

Now even if the Bears get a boost from a cap rollover, which could be just over $8 million, it won't change their reality. With 30 pending free agents in 2021 including Allen Robinson? They'll have to make some significant moves in order to gain some wiggle room under the cap. That could mean some of their higher-priced players could receive extensions to work around their high cap hits or more likely could be cut or traded. Here is a list of names that would garner the most cap relief if that were to happen.

• Kyle Fuller - $11 million
• Akiem Hicks - $10.5 million
• Jimmy Graham - $7 million
• Charles Leno Jr. - $6.2 million
• Bobby Massie - $5.4 million
• Buster Skrine - $2.8 million

Now as stated before the Bears could offer extensions to the likes of Fuller and Hicks to lower their cap numbers. Both have played outstanding this year. At the same time, both aren't getting any younger. Extending older players carries a lot of risks as the team is finding out with Danny Trevathan. Odds are a number of those names will no longer be Bears by the time free agency begins in March. Look for Leno, Massie, and Skrine to be the likeliest to go. After that, it's a matter of how bad they need more money.