The Windy City is like many other NFL fans and is still in awe that the Chicago Bears are somehow in the conversation to trade for one of the premier edge rushers in the league, Maxx Crosby.
News broke that the Baltimore Ravens backed out of their trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, which had initially sent Crosby to Baltimore, after he failed his physical. The Raiders were supposed to acquire a 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick to move on from Crosby.
With Crosby back on the Raiders' roster and all the free agent moves they made, Las Vegas is scrambling to try to find a suitable trade partner for him. Chicago would still be interested in Crosby, but would first have to make some moves on their end to make space for him.
What the Bears have to do to make cap space for Maxx Crosby
After two days of the NFL's legal tampering period, the Bears have roughly $10.2 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap. That's not the end of the world and actually gives Chicago some room to keep the free agents they have already signed while still getting Crosby.
One option for the Bears will be to ask multiple players to restructure their contracts. Going into the offseason, Chicago had over $85 million in flexibility to restructure contracts, so that option might actually be the best of both worlds in keeping all the talent on the roster while adding Crosby into the mix.
Another option is for the Bears to start trading up for other players, as they already traded DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills and released linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Two big names to keep an eye on are tight end Cole Kmet and running back D'Andre Swift, as cutting the two would save the Bears about $15.8 million by either releasing them or trading them.
If the Bears want to save even more money, they can always find a trade partner for backup quarterback Tyson Bagent. Chicago already re-signed Case Keenum and has a solid backup there behind Caleb Williams, so a Bagent trade would save them another $3.7 million right there.
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The Bears have a realistic pathway to create cap space to bring in Crosby and help the team in a trade if Chicago wants him badly enough. It might cost them two first-round picks and losing some key players, but at least they would finally get their elite edge rusher they have been looking for.