Chicago Bears: The direction of the franchise and roster heading into 2021

The Chicago Bears current situation

The Chicago Bears did everything I stated in a previous article. If you missed that one, check here. I basically covered why starting over in the middle of an era doesn’t make any sense. I would cover that again, but that is too redundant. Now that everybody is all on the same page, whether you are mad or happy, it is time to get ready for the offseason (my favorite season).

Ryan Pace, Matt Nagy, and Ted Phillips all hold onto their job while Chuck Pagano retires. That is what we know. Agree or disagree, that is for another topic at hand. Many might not know that the Chicago Bears franchise finds itself in a very odd situation next season.

Despite the salary cap situation, which we don’t know exactly what will be just yet since the playoffs are still rolling, there are some other issues at hand for the Chicago Bears. The Bears will enter the offseason with just enough players to field the league min in Madden to play a game.

45 players are under contract entering the offseason (which includes the practice squad players). Now I don’t believe teams need to enter training camp with 90 players but NFL teams seem to feel the need. That means between now and July, the Chicago Bears need to come up with 45 more players.

The cap department leaders next season are Khalil Mack, Kyler Fuller, Robert Quinn, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Jackson, Charles Leno, and Jimmy Graham, all hitting the double-digit ends of the cap hit. While some will say, “that’s easy, just cut Graham, Leno, and maybe some others,” it is not that easy. The Chicago Bears cannot just cut players to free up cap space because some of them are still needed to fill out the roster.

While I think there will be some cap casualties (off-topic: I feel like there is way too much whining going on from some of the Chicago Bears media. Saying they feel lied to and deserve this and deserve that. What happened to the tough old reporters like John Mullin. I have had enough of JJ and Cam. All they do is cry about stuff)

Sorry about that, where was I. Oh yes, there will likely be some roster moves, but probably not ones some would agree with. Or lack of some, I should say.