Chicago Bears Draft: Is it fate if Jalen Hurts is around early in round two?

The finances between Jalen Hurts and the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears have a Super Bowl window wide open with the defense they have built. But how long is that window open? I have done my best to try and guess what the Chicago Bears, Ryan Pace, and Matt Nagy are going to do this draft. If the window is open now, how long will that last?

I am going to focus my best attention to what I would do and share why. According to Spotrac.com, the Chicago Bears sit with 10.5 million dollars in cap space, including the draft pool allotment. Ryan Pace and his director of football administration Joey Laine have done outstanding work with managing the cap and contracts.

However, I feel like I missed something important. Mitch Trubisky is currently on his last year in his rookie contract unless he gets the fifth-year option, which has to be decided on by May. Nick Foles is on a three year 24 million dollar contract that has a two-year player option following the end of this season.

Not including any other moves, the Chicago Bears would have around 30 million dollars in cap space in 2021. That is also only including 26 players that would actively count towards the cap. They have 10 million dollars in cap space this year, with 66 players on the roster.

The Chicago Bears could move on from a few players to open up more cap space. Bobby Massie and maybe Charles Leno could free up some cap with limited dead cap. Akiem Hicks would surprisingly free up the most, but if he has another monster year, he would be in line to be extended. Speaking of extension, an Allen Robinson deal should likely be reached before the season will end this year.

The issue is the quarterback position. If Trubisky plays well, he would need to get a longer-term deal that would pay him anywhere between $20 to $30 million dollars a season. If Nick Foles plays well, he will opt out of his contract, looking to make even more. The truth of the matter is, that would be a good thing. That would mean the Chicago Bears finally found a quarterback to lead them to success.

The issue is, how much do the Chicago Bears have to spend? With only 23 players on the active roster, the Bears could allocate money to the future. They would still need to add bodies. That leaves this draft as a vital draft. If the Bears trade down, Pace can acquire more players that can fill future holes that would be on the roster now. If they don’t, they will need to invest in free agents in 2021 and acquire more draft capital somehow.

The other option is to draft a quarterback this year. If the Chicago Bears draft a quarterback early in the second round this year, they can groom him to take over after whatever quarterback starts in 2020. Drafting a quarterback would get him on a rookie four-year deal that would cost around seven million dollars total.

This move would allow the Chicago Bears to select players that are more focused on this year instead of the future and open up cap space next year for free-agent finds. Either way, the Chicago Bears have big decisions to make this draft. The 2020 NFL Draft will tell us a lot about the direction the Chicago Bears are headed.