Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has hinted that the team is willing to make big moves via trades and free agency. Well, they will need money to do so, and the only way to do that is to move on from a few players.
The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs reported first that the Bears have granted permission to linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to seek a trade. Edmunds has played the last three seasons with the Bears, racking up 335 tackles in that span. He's coming off a season where he collected 112 tackles and four interceptions in 13 games.
Chicago has Edmunds under contract for one more year, which will cost the team $17.4 million in cap space in 2026. The Bears are currently $4 million under the cap and need to make space to get back in the green, and trading Edmunds before the June 1 deadline would save them $15 million.
Tremaine Edmunds is pretty much out the door in Chicago
Edmunds has been a solid starter for the Bears, but he never really broke out the way fans were hoping he would. He made two Pro Bowls in his first five years with the Buffalo Bills before coming to Chicago, but has not done so in a Bears uniform.
The Bears have bigger needs on the roster and need to make cap room to get those top players. Edmunds has joined DJ Moore and Cole Kmet as the most common names mentioned in trade or cut rumors, with Edmunds no longer a rumor. This is a reality.
When Chicago moves on from Edmunds, that will open the door for them to re-sign D'Marco Jackson, who is expected to be the new starter at linebacker if they bring him back, since he is a free agent. It will also serve as a warning to T.J. Edwards, as he will most likely be the next to leave if he doesn't elevate his play, but that won't happen until potentially next season.
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Edmunds was never expected to survive this offseason with the Bears and was always going to be on the move. Now it's only a matter of figuring out where he's going to land.