N’Keal Harry salary cap implications with Chicago Bears
When the Chicago Bears traded for N’Keal Harry it was hardly a surprising move. Harry is young, he is cheap, he did not cost much in terms of trade equity, and the wide receiver room is not the deepest room in the NFL.
So, the move makes sense, but Harry is still not a player that is locked onto the roster, or that should give Bears fans plenty of hope. He is just another lottery ticket in a group of them with guys like Equanimeous St. Brown, and Dante Pettis.
One difference between them all is that the Chicago Bears trading for N’Keal Harry meant that they were taking on his current contract. It is a rookie salary deal, so it is not much, but it is more than the other wide receivers saw in free agency.
N’Keal Harry Salary Cap Implications for Chicago Bears
Harry is on the last year of a four-year $10M deal. This year his salary cap number is $3.2M. However, the New England Patriots are eating $1.34M in dead money due to his signing bonus that the team already paid him.
That leaves a little under $1.9M for the Chicago Bears this season. However, he is only guaranteed $673K of that. So, the Chicago Bears owe him that much, and if he makes the roster, he will start making prorated portions of the final $1.3M.
This is worth noting in comparison to his peers, though. The $673 in dead money if Harry is cut Is not much, and the $1.2 in savings would be worth it if Harry does not perform in camp.
At the same time, Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis, David Moore, and Tajae Sharpe offer no guaranteed money, and thus no dead money.
They all have cap hits under $1M, though. So, when you take out the displacement from what they are making, it is about $700K more in cap space if they keep Harry over someone like Pettis, but $673K in dead money if they let him go. Whether Harry makes the team or they let him go, they will have that extra $600-700 over them. Beyond that, it would not be much more costly than any of the other depth wide receivers making the team.
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The hope is that if Harry does play well, the team may be able to get a friendly deal with him. He may want to take the deal to play with Justin Fields if he has his best year with Chicago, and most teams will still be hesitant to pay him considering he only cost Chicago such a late pick.