The Chicago Bears should look to free agency to replace Eddie Goldman
As the season approaches and training camps continue to run, players around the league are starting to opt-out to avoid health risks surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. This could be just the start though as players have until August 3, 2020, to announce if they are opting out.
What does this mean for teams? Well, it means that the players opting out will earn either $350,000 or $150,000 for the season depending on if they are considered high-risk or not. This also means the players’ 2020 salary will be shifted to 2021 and the players will not accrue this season of their contract. Since Eddie Goldman is opting out, he was under contract until 2024, but now he will be under contract until 2025.
In 2020, Goldman was scheduled to earn just over $6 million dollars. This means his contract will continue to shift and that amount will now be due in 2021. In 2022, the Chicago Bears will owe him $7.7 million, followed by $11.8 million in 2023 and $9.2 million in 2024. The good news is that this means the team can look to add another person to the roster to replace him and with $6 million dollars at Ryan Pace’s disposal he should be able to sign a decent veteran.
The other option is leaving everything alone and having that $6 million roll over into the 2021 season. With rumors of drastic cuts coming to the salary cap in 2021, the Bears could use every dollar they can scrounge up. As it stands, the team could be in big trouble if the salary cap drops to $175 million — the lowest amount rumored teams could see. If Pace decides he is not worried about the salary cap ramifications for 2021, then one of these three free agents could help.