Bears have a dire cap situation that signals more moves to be expected before Ryan Poles can even think about the 2026 NFL Draft
The Chicago Bears are not in a good spot when it comes to the available cap space for 2026.
The Chicago Bears weren’t able to reel in a big fish during the first week of free agency but still handed out some solid-sized contracts with the amount of external additions and re-signings make last week, with some moves still coming in the building.
The Bears had to make some difficult decisions before the new league year officially began to clear cap space needed for the new signings that included trading away WR DJ Moore and releasing LB Tremaine Edmunds. Those moves created just enough space needed to acquire the new players, thanks to low Year 1 cap hits, but the team is still pushed tight against the cap.
Chicago Bears listed with the lowest available cap space in the league after free agency
NFL insider Albert Breer shared the bottom 10 teams in cap space one week into the new league year and the Bears listed with just $213,000 in cap space, easily the lowest in the league. These numbers are not exact with a few deals still yet to be filed with the league but still showcases that the Bears are in a tough spot right now.
According to Over The Cap, the Bears still haven’t factored CB Jaylon Jones and recently signed DT James Lynch into the equation. It’s clear the Bears front office has some work to do over the next few weeks because the team will also need to have at least $10,868,878 in cap space for the 2026 draft class and more space added later on for in-season signings and spending.
Fortunately, it’s not the end of the world. There’s plenty of ways to create cap space on the fly and the Bears are now at the point where it’s going to have to be a requirement.
Ways for the Chicago Bears to create more cap space ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft
The obvious move teams do to clear a chunk of cap space is by restructuring existing contracts, which essentially means moving 2026 money into future years to lower the 2026 cap hit. It’s a process general manager Ryan Poles largely avoids, but he did do it last September with CB Jaylon Johnson.
The trick with restructures is doing it with players ideally in the team’s long-term plans, saying you want to go about it the smart way, because that money comes due eventually.
The obvious restructure candidate on the Bears roster is CB Kyler Gordon, who signed a three-year, $40 million extension last April and has a $12,910,000 cap hit for 2026. A restructure of Gordon’s contract would save the Bears around $6 million in cap space. A solid boost, but still not enough.
Two other logical candidates for restructures include DE Montez Sweat ($25,085,294 cap hit) and LG Joe Thuney ($21,500,000 cap hit), Johnson is also an option but I would avoid restructuring the same player twice. Restructuring Sweat would save around $9.8 million or $13.1 million with a void year added to the deal. Restructuring Thuney would save around $7.4 million without including void years.
It doesn’t just have to be restructures. The Bears could also attempt to reach an extension with TE Cole Kmet to lower his 2026 cap hit, a similar move the Buffalo Bills did a few years back with TE Dawson Knox. Another option is to part ways with current players on the roster, which would be a last resort path at this point. Here are a few players the Bears can save cap space moving on from.
- TE Cole Kmet – $8.4 million (cut or trade)
- RB D’Andre Swift – $6.97 million (cut) or $7.47 million (trade)
- CB Tyrique Stevenson – $3.674 million (cut or trade)
- RB Roschon Johnson – $1.145 million (cut or trade)
- OT Kiran Amegadjie – $1.052 million (cut or trade)
Chicago has plenty of options to explore to address the dire cap situation ahead of the draft. We’ll see which paths the team decides to go down sooner than later.
Chicago Bears News
Bears Post-Free Agency 7-Round 2026 Mock Draft: Chicago has clear positions to target in April after a modest spending spree
The Chicago Bears are banking heavily on the draft class to get the team over the hump.
