Chicago Bears wisely release Mike Davis

In a lost season, the Chicago Bears released Mike Davis to ensure that they would get a compensatory pick for next years draft

The compensatory pick process is a messy one, but we have slowly started to figure it out. One thing we learned is that if the Chicago Bears wanted to increase their chances of picking up a fourth round pick for losing Adrian Amos, they needed to release Mike Davis before week 10.

After speculation that a disaster season would get worse by GM Ryan Pace not understanding this formula, most fans were met with a sigh of relief that Mike Davis was released this morning.

This is nothing against Davis the person or player, but sitting at 3-5, and without a first round pick, the Bears could not mess around and limit any chances of gaining another pick.

On top of that, Davis has just 11 carries, and 7 receptions this season. Needless to say, the experiment with him in this offense was not a good one.

While Davis struggled, the emergence of David Montgomery made the decision easier as well. Montgomery has not set the world on fire, but has proven to be NFL starting quality. The team added Davis as a placeholder for Montgomery and with the emergence of Montgomery came less responsibility for Davis.

The Bears will eat $3 million in salary this season for Davis, and will also have $1 million in dead cap next season due to releasing him. Considering the salary cap will be close to $200 million, this is a small drop in the bucket.

Still, a disappointing signing nonetheless. Matt Nagy said he wanted a specific back, and none of the backs he hand chose have looked great so far. At least the Bears were smart enough to cut their losses.