The Chicago Bears need to cut this player

The Chicago Bears will be going through their roster over the coming weeks and putting together their offseason strategy. One decision that should be obvious and will be made early into the offseason is releasing Cody Whitehair. 

The Chicago Bears need to cut Cody Whitehair

This is still newsworthy, especially for a player who has been with the team since 2016 and, at times, was one of the best players on the offense over that stretch. However, injuries started to take a toll on his career around 2020, and he has not been the same player since then.

Most people thought that 2022 was his last year with the team, but Ryan Poles made the poor decision of not only bringing him back off of an injury but also asking him to move from guard to center. The injury to Teven Jenkins forced him back to guard, but he had already spent the offseason transitioning and then had to shuffle back quickly. This led to the worst season of his career. 

He was playing multiple spots, had players shuffling beside him, and he had his own injury and performance issues to worry about. Whitehair was benched in week 10. He came back for 155 snaps in the final couple of weeks due to injuries, but the Bears started Dan Feeney in week 18 to get a look at him rather than a healthy Whitehair. A great career with Chicago that went down poorly.

Whitehair is currently under contract, but his cap hit is $13.25M. Meanwhile, if they cut him, it will only be a dead cap of $4.1. They will save $9.1M to cut Cody Whitehair this offseason. Considering he is not even a starter on the team right now. 

His cap hit is too much, and $4.1 to let him play elsewhere is worth it. The question is more about whether or not he will play next year or just retire. His interest may not be high, and there is a question of whether it would be worth it to play for a low salary as a depth option next year.