Chicago Bears Bold Cut Candidate: Jimmy Graham, TE
Plenty of Chicago Bears fans have been screaming for Jimmy Graham to be cut. The tight end is currently earning $10 million dollars this season. However, if Ryan Pace were to walk away from the future Hall of Fame tight end, the Bears would save $7 million dollars. In fact, the team could even take the $3 million dollars in dead cap and spread it out over this and next season, saving an additional $1.5 million.
With the current situation regarding the offensive tackle positions, Pace and the Chicago Bears are going to need to look into fixing things. With some additional cap space, the team could look to sign a free agent like Russell Okung. Rumors are spreading that the team might be linked to Rick(y) Wagner too. With Teven Jenkins looking like the next Chris Williams and Germain Ifedi not fully healthy, moving on from Jimmy Graham should not be out of the question.
Cutting Graham now would look like a mistake and this is what really makes it a bold call. Had Pace cut Graham earlier, it’s possible that Charles Leno would still be around. Personally, I’d take Russell Okung over Leno, but Leno is an average offensive tackle who hasn’t missed a game since becoming the Bears starting left tackle. He would make me feel more comfortable about the current offensive line situation. If the quarterback does not have time to throw, the offense will look awful once again this year.