Every dollar counts when you’re trying to build a sustainable Super Bowl contender. So while we will dig deeper into the Chicago Bears’ salary cap situation when we get closer to the start of the new league year in March, today felt like a good day to check in on things as they stand right now.
At first blush, things don’t look great for the Bears. Chicago’s football team is $17,396,354 *OVER* the projected 2025 salary cap, per OverTheCap’s calculations. There are several teams with less desirable salary-cap situations than the Bears’ at the moment. One of those teams (Vikings, $48,943,588 million over the cap) is in the NFC North. It is also worth noting that the Green Bay Packers ($10,689,599) and Detroit Lions ($16,715,969) are also over the cap. Clearly, the NFC North has some work to do to get under the cap.
2026 Chicago Bears Salary Cap Update
Again, we will take a longer look into the Bears’ salary cap situation later in the offseason. However, let’s take a moment to kick the tires on some possible cut and restructure candidates who could help General Manager Ryan Poles create some much-needed cap space.
CUT CANDIDATES
Tremaine Edmunds
Edmunds is due to make $17.4375 million this season, but none of that guaranteed. A pre-June 1 cut designation for the veteran linebacker would clear $15 million in cap space, with only $2.4375 million in dead money. Edmunds turns 28 in May and recorded an eighth straight season with 100-plus tackles. But Chicago needs cap relief, and parting ways with Edmunds can help the Bears clear $15 million in a single transaction. Edmunds has been a steady contributor since joining this team as a free agent in 2023, but cutting him seems like the most obvious move of the offseason for this front office.
D’Andre Swift
Swift is on this list simply because this is an exploratory exercise. I’m not advocating cutting Swift. In fact, I’d offer up that Swift’s 2025 campaign (10 touchdowns, a career-high 1,386 scrimmage yards) had him actually out-playing a contract that had him as the 16th-highest-paid running back in terms of AAV this season. Cutting Swift would clear $7.47 million in cap space for the Bears while leaving the team with a $1.333 million dead money hit. But it would also create another hole to fill (and pay for) this offseason.
Kyle Monangai had a terrific rookie season, but is he an every-down feature back? Making him one would be quite the gamble. Ben Johnson has always operated in a committee fashion at the running back position, and I don’t see that changing.
Cole Kmet
It’s easy to look at what Colston Loveland did this season, project what his sophomore campaign could look like, and rationalize clearing cap space by cutting Kmet. Parting ways with Kmet would clear $8.4 million and leave Chicago with a $3.2 million dead cap hit. However, I still see what Kmet contributes to Johnson’s offense as critical. Hence, I can imagine Kmet and the Bears reaching an extension agreement that lowers his 2026 cap number is more viable for Chicago.
Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesRESTRUCTURE CANDIDATES
DJ Moore
While there has been some early offseason chatter regarding a potential DJ Moore trade, I think a restructure and Moore playing in Chicago in 2026, at least to start the season, is more likely. Moore’s 2026 $23.485 million salary is fully guaranteed, but a salary conversion can provide the Bears with $17.4 million in cap space. Plus, adding a void year can increase that number to $18.5 million for 2026. That move alone would get the Bears out of the red regarding available cap space this offseason.
From a roster standpoint, it leaves Ben Johnson with a dependable veteran wide receiver on the roster in 2026. Moore is no longer the top pass-catching option in Chicago. That honor likely belongs to Colston Loveland next season, with Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III likely behind him in the pecking order. This would leave DJ Moore as the third or fourth option in an offense, which feels like a luxury. If not for the $35.485 million dead cap number, Chicago might consider moving on from Moore this offseason. But I think the front office keeps him around and restructures his deal to open up a good chunk of cap room this spring.
Joe Thuney
Thuney’s $16 million 2026 salary is fully guaranteed. So, like Moore, Thuney is a likely candidate for a contract restructuring. Chicago can convert most of Thuney’s salary for next season into bonuses and free up $7.3 million in cap space. If the team adds void years, it can move that number up to $11.7 million.
If you’re not familiar, void years are artificial “dummy” years added to a contract that allow teams to spread out a player’s signing bonus, thus lowering the present salary cap hit. Because those years on the back end of a deal are automatically void, players can still become free agents on the same schedule as the original deal, with the club incurring dead money against the cap for those years.
Thuney turned in an All-Pro season for the Bears, so keeping him around in 2026 is a no-brainer, but doing so at a lower cap hit makes equal sense.
Grady Jarrett
Jarrett’s deal that he signed with Chicago last year is also guaranteed in 2026, but converting his salary into a bonus for next season would free up $6.9 million in cap space. Using void years could raise that number to $10.8 million.
Jarrett wasn’t as good as Ryan Poles and company probably hoped, largely due to injuries early, and he turns 33 in April. Still, cutting him outright isn’t viable, given his dead cap of $21 million with a pre-June 1 cut designation. Like Thuney, a return in 2026 with a restructure seems inevitable.
Grady Jarrett celebrates after a sack against the Lions at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesCONSIDER SUBSCRIBING TO THE BN BEARS PODCAST: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
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