The Chicago Bears are set to enter the 2023 off-season with the most cap space in the entire league. They sit atop with $98,656,266 in available space. Approximately $5 million of that is needed to sign a draft class. The Bears have more than 7 draft picks, as they have an extra 4th rounder; however, that shouldn't cost much at all against the cap. Many wise people say free agency is for need, draft for talent. That is the philosophy we will be using for this.

The Bears enter this off-season with their primary needs at 3 tech, edge, wide receiver, and offensive line. As well as having lesser needs at cornerback, linebacker, and running back.

Let's start this off-season out with a bang. Head coach Matt Eberflus has called the 3 technique "the engine that makes everything go." With it being a priority in terms of team needs and head coach philosophy, you can expect they will be aggressive here.

Let's give them defensive tackle, Da'Ron Payne. Spotrac estimates his average annual salary will be $19.4 million, but for the sake of the Bears emphasizing this we will say they sign him for $20 million.

For the next position let's get someone that will benefit from having Da'Ron Payne next to him. Let's sign Indianapolis Colts edge rusher, Yannick Ngakoue. Ngakoue had success in his new home in Indianapolis and registered 9.5 sacks on the year. He did it with DeForest Buckner at 3T. Now he will have Da'Ron Payne.

Spotrac estimates his value is around $14.8 million, so we will round up and say they sign him for $15 million. That puts us with $58 million left and two of the Bears primary needs taken care of.

With two of their primary needs solved, and both on the defensive side, it is time we turn our attention to the offensive side of the ball and get Justin Fields some help. Specifically, let's turn our attention to the offensive line. Kaleb McGary, was a first-round pick in 2019. He had been underperforming that draft position, so his fifth-year option was not picked up.

McGary responded with a career year. He finished with a 91.6 run-blocking grade per PFF, trailing only Trent Williams. With Braxton Jones safe on the left side, McGary can come in and lock down RT. He would cost around $17.7 million per Spotrac, so we will round up and say $18 million.

For the other guard spot opposite of Teven Jenkins, let's target Philadelphia Eagles offensive guard Isaac Seumalo. Seumalo had been plagued by injuries earlier in his career, but he was able to tally over 1,000 snaps this season. He boasted his career-best grade per PFF. He allowed 0 QB hits and 0 pressures when blocking for 2 different QBs in Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew post-week 11. His estimated value per Spotrac us $12.1 million, again for the sake of simplicity we will round to $13 million.

For one of the cheaper free agents in this haul we will turn our attention to Cleveland Browns center, Ethan Pocic. Pocic started off his career in Seattle before turning his career towards Cleveland. Pocic boasted career highs in both pass blocking and run blocking this year per PFF. At an estimated price of $7.2 million per Spotrac he might be one of the best bargains in this class.

For the last big name splash off this off-season, we will address corner. Let's dip into the pool of the Philadelphia Eagles again and this time we will sign corner, James Bradberry. Bradberry allowed a 46.0 completion percentage and had 19 forced incompletions on the year. At 29 he is getting older, but he can serve meaningful playing time as well as be a mentor for the Bears defensive back room. His estimated value per Spotrac is $17.1 million, that would leave us with less than $5 million to spend.

The Bears made some news this past season with a trade of a linebacker, Roquan Smith.  Right now they have Jack Sanborn and Nicholas Marrow as their listed starters. With the additions of Da'Ron Payne and Yannick Ngakoue for this exercise, that allows us to bargain bin shop here as they will command a lot of attention. Again we're going to double dip from a team we already stole from and revisit the Indianapolis Colts. This time we will sign linebacker, Bobby Okereke.

Okereke stepped up his play this year with the absence of Shaquille Leonard. He finished with a 72.9 grade which finished 23rd among linebackers for PFF.  He has 13 defensive stops against the run as well as having 100 tackles and 50 total stops for the second consecutive season. His value per Spotrac is quite the bargain at $2.3 estimated value. We will be generous and give him $4 million.

With $1 million left, the Bears still need help at wide receiver and running-back. This is where they can get creative, the NFL Draft. The Bears can elect to take Jalen Carter or Will Anderson and make their defensive fronts one of the most feared in the league. Or they can trade back and have their selection of receiver.

The free agency class is quite weak this year, so the draft might present their best option. With the undervaluement of running backs in todays NFL, I don't feel comfortable paying one. Instead the Bears can target this in the draft as well. Names like Zach Charbonnet, Tyjae Spears, and Zach Evans are ones to keep an eye on in particular.

And, keep in mind, the Bears can adjust contracts to where there is a lower cap hit on the front end. This exercise takes the money straight off the top for simplicity purposes. In a real-life scenario, these contracts won't take up a whole lot of cap space in 2023.

Meaning, the Bears' offseason options are endless.

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