You know things are going well in Chicago when the Bears start showing up on 'most overpaid stars' lists.
It wasn't that long ago where there wasn't a soul on the Bears roster who would show up on something like that. They were lose 14 games in a row behind guys like Trevor Simian (no offense Trevor) and things were looking bleak.
But as it so happens, getting the first overall pick in the NFL Draft two years in a row does wonders for your team's talent level, and the Bears have done an admirable job moving quickly to move on from the Ryan Pace era team and build up a new roster, capped off by – presumably – Caleb Williams next week.
And because win-now moves always get a little bit of shade from the weird corner of Twitter that cares about billionaire owners "overpaying" their players, the Bears were always destined to wind up on a few of them this year. The most recent comes from Bleacher Report, where they took a look at all 32 teams and identified the most overpaid guy on each. Chicago's probably won't surprise you.
New Bears star is already being called Chicago's most 'overpaid' player
I wouldn't call anyone on the Bears overpaid. Their five big-money guys (Montez Sweat, D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Jaylon Johnson and Tremaine Edmunds) have all earned their green. That said, Allen has lacked consistency and durability at times and may be beyond his prime ahead of a $23.1 million age-32 season.
It's a generally a good point, but there's something funny about seeing BR start a Most Overpaid explanation by saying that, actually, on the Bears, the answer is "no one." Content! Looking at Allen makes sense: he is 32, and he has missed a decent chunk of games over the last two years.
But he also put up over 1300 yards on over 100 catches in 13 games last year, which is kind of insane to think about. He finished last season ranked as Pro Football Focus' 11th best wide reciever, one spot behind DJ Moore. I'd argue that $23 million for the 11th best wide receiver in football is not really an overpay at all. Especially for, right now at least, only one season! Allen's set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2025, so if his play falls off this season, the Bears have a pretty easy out.
Of their "five big-money guys," the answer's almost certainly Edmunds. His cap hit stays above 6% for the next three seasons, and he finished 2023 as PFF's 70th ranked linebacker (out of 82). But after the last couple seasons, it's just nice to have arguments about which Bears players aren't quite good enough to be on the roster, isn't it?