As the new league year approaches, the Chicago Bears have quickly gone from in the red to about $26.5 million under the salary cap (according to Over The Cap). That suggests something big could be brewing at Halas Hall, even with a Maxx Crosby now off the table.
Still, money doesn't grow on trees, and choices have to be made. Some tough choices, even when it comes to which in-house free agents to re-sign and which to let go. It's possible to read into public comments from general manager Ryan Pace on that front, and in one case in particular, he has been crystal clear about who is wanted back among key free agents at a certain position.
Of course, once other teams are able to negotiate with free agents from other teams, or rather the league opens the window for it to happen above-board, all bets are off, and the cost to re-sign your own naturally rises. So if the Bears want to keep someone, their window to have exclusive negotiating rights can now be measured in hours.
Latest pre-free agency buzz confirms what Bears' plan has been all along
In a roundup of intel before the "legal tampering period" of free agency starts, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler had some notes about the Bears in terms of an expected focus on allocating their cap dollars to the defensive side of the ball.
The last Bears' nugget Fowler offered was brief, and it confirmed what's been easy to see as part of the plan for free agency all along.
"At safety, my sense is the Bears will attempt to re-sign Kevin Byard III over the weekend but will let Jaquan Brisker walk."
Byard is clearly highly valued by the Bears after leading the league with seven interceptions last season, and he's a veteran leader for a team that is otherwise pretty young. Brisker, on the other hand, is a more limited player with a history of concussions before last season that may impact what he gets in his second contract.
Read more: Tremaine Edmunds projected to do just fine in free agency after Bears' departure
It's also very possible (if not likely) that the 32-year-old Byard wants to see what's out there on the open market, or he already has some sense of that from his agent, since this is likely to be his last big contract. But the Bears now have the cap space to re-sign him, so things may move fast on that front if they come with a competitive offer before the market officially opens.