Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has had a difficult task over the last three years reconstructing a roster that didn't offer a lot coming into the job.

Tough decisions had to be made and the Bears' front office had to learn a lot over that span by making multiple mistakes but the roster is finally in an ideal spot for the future.

"I think we actually started it in the negative, not at zero," Poles said last week via ESPN1000. "It was below zero just to be honest with you. But I'm proud of the resilience that we've had, especially in the front office, just in terms of keep chipping away chopping away and now when you look at the roster compared to when we walked in the door or even that first year, it's something to be proud of."

This roster is finally filled with talent from top to bottom and has the star players needed to win in this league. And with a franchise quarterback under a rookie contract, Poles is taking full advantage of the salary cap to maximize this roster.

Bears Current Salary Cap Situation

Now that the major free agency period and the 2025 NFL Draft is behind us, we can take a closer look at the team's cap space to determine what more needs to be done by Poles and the front office this offseason.

As things currently sit with the Bears, they have $10,598,865 in salary cap space per Over The Cap. 

That amount of cap space won't be around for long. The Bears still need to take on the contracts of all eight draft selections plus have additional left over for undrafted free agents and in-season spending, here's roughly how much that usually eats up:

• Eight player draft class: $4-5 million
• Practice squad: $4-5 million
• In season signings: $4-5 million

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So, the Bears still need to do some work in order to create more cap space prior to the 2025 season, especially if the team wants to bring in any more outside free agents such as running back Nick Chubb or another pass rusher.

Luckily, there's a number of ways to create more space in a short amount of time. The Bears can finalize some more extensions or restructures that will lower 2025 base salaries or release certain players in the coming weeks after seeing what they have on the roster during Organized Team Activities and into training camp.

Here are some possible contracts that can be adjusted or removed to create cap space ranked by likelihood of it happening this offseason.

• LG Jonah Jackson – $15.5 million base salary – Extension likely
• DE Montez Sweat – $20.9 million base salary – Restructure likely
• WR DJ Moore – $20.65 million base salary – Restructure likely
• LB Tremaine Edmunds – $14.9 million base salary – Extension/Restructure possible
• OL Ryan Bates – $3.4 million base salary – Release possible (Post June 1st)
• K Cairo Santos – $3.1 million base salary – Release possible (Post June 1st)

When asked about a potential extension for Joe Thuney, GM Ryan Poles said he's hoping to have something done soon.

He noted that he has good relationships with both Thuney & his agent @MikeMcCartney7. #Bears

— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) May 1, 2025

Clearly, there's still some avenues to create more cap space this offseason if the Bears want to have some wiggle room during the season or want to pursue another outside free agent signing.

As for the 2026 season, the Bears are projected to have $38,458,889 in cap space with 31 players under contract, not including the eight new rookies joining the team. There's a lot worse positions to be in looking ahead.

Poles has done a great job managing this roster over the past few months to bring in the best talent to compete now while still having flexibility to keep this team heading in the right direction in the coming years.

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