The Bears, as well as the rest of the NFL, will have more salary-cap space for next season than they originally anticipated.
The NFL informed teams Wednesday that when the new league year begins March 12, the salary cap will fall between $277.5 million and $281.5 million, ESPN reported. That’s up from $255.4 million last season and slightly higher than the original $272.5 million projection from Over The Cap.
That would put the Bears between $67 million and $71 million in cap space as they look to address major roster concerns and give new coach Ben Johnson the best chance at getting them to the playoffs in his first season.
The Bears have the sixth-most cap space behind the Patriots (at least $124.7 million), Raiders ($97.7 million), Commanders ($80.2 million), Cardinals ($74.5 million) and Chargers ($68.4 million). The Commanders and Chargers both made the playoffs last season.
The biggest issues for the Bears are shoring up their offensive and defensive lines. They can address those needs in free agency and with three picks — Nos. 10, 39 and 41 — in the first two rounds of the draft.
Free agency comes first, with the official negotiation window opening March 10, though teams often have backchanneled well before that. The Bears, for example, had a deal in place with running back D’Andre Swift less than half an hour into the negotiating period a year ago.
The draft isn’t until the end of April, but the Bears are deep into preparation for it. General manager Ryan Poles and assistant general manager Ian Cunningham led a delegation to the Senior Bowl last month, and the team is expected to have a significant group — including Johnson — at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis next week.
