2015 cap space

[cubzzzfanincali]

OK, current cap status as of 3/13 for Top 51 + rookie signings is we have $9.68 million, not counting the Mason Foster contract, so probably something like $7 million.

 

[anotheridiot]

are you using the new 143 million?

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

yep. Current cap.

 

[nebearsfan70]

Well that sucks.

 

[wood20ks]

OK, current cap status as of 3/13 for Top 51 + rookie signings is we have $9.68 million, not counting the Mason Foster contract, so probably something like $7 million.

So basically,your saying there is 7 mill left before we hit the max for cap?


Sounds to me like there is gonna be no more free agents and possibly be more cap casualties and restructures of contracts.......7 mill is not a lot.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

well at the moment, yes that's what the situation is. There could of course be cuts or restructuring. With $7 mil, and doing nothing else, we could probably sign a couple more mid-level guys. Remember, they can sign guys as long as they cut them when the final 51 gets determined.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

so...yes I get it that this is super preliminary...but here's our current signed roster situation for the guys who I would say have a semi-decent to assured spot on the roster.

QBs: Cutler, Clausen, Fales
RB: Forte, Carey
WR: Jeffrey, Royal, Wilson, Mariani, Bellamy
TE: Bennett, Miller
OL: Long, Bushrod, Slauson, Garza, Mills, Leno, Ola
DL: Ratliff, Ferguson, Sutton, Houston, Bass (not trying to start an argument over exact roles for some of these guys, just a rough idea)
LB: Young, Allen, Bostic, McClellin, McPhee, Jones, Greene, Lane
CB: Jennings, Fuller, Hurst
S: Rolle, Vereen, Mundy, Walters

P/K/LS: Gould, O'Donnell

OK, so not trying to quibble about who exactly plays DE vs. OLB, I "cut" a couple of guys who could swap with these guys, this is just to have somewhat of a picture at this point.

So what can we tell from this? Clearly, you have to expect more O linemen, at least one more tackle and one more on interior. I'd say WR is definitely a position that needs another solid guy or draft pic. We have an excess of edge defenders. Maybe we trade Willie Young because he had a nice season last year, might net something in a trade, and we have an excess of guys there? I liked him, but maybe he is worth more as a trade asset to us now? I expect us to draft an ILB unless we could sign someone like Spikes at a decent cost. And we need 2 more CB and probably another safety to at least look at.

So to NC's concern about simply having enough guys, look, they are working on getting the roster up for camp. I'm sure that will be fine, and I'm sure they will have a full roster. The issue is there is just too much fundamental weakness there, and not enough elite quality. I mean look at that list...is it really that inspiring? We need at least 8 more NFL-playable guys at this point. Hopefully the draft provides 4 of them, 5 if we are lucky. They need another 3 or 4 solid free agent signings to probably field a playable team.

I'm of the opinion that from here, as far as free agency goes, I'd prefer we not lock in any more guys to 3-year deals or longer unless they are under 27. I see little point in hamstringing the roster in future years for the sake of a little extra competitiveness in '15.

Frankly, I'd rather they take most of the remaining cap space and lock down Alshon.

 

[anotheridiot]

They still get to play with Jays, Slausens, Robbies and Jennings contracts to convert salary to bonus and pick up another bunch. Last year Jay moved 4 million, I cant see him not agreeing to move that and then some again to get a better team around him.

As far as alshon, I wish they did something last year, or before Marshall was dealt away. Now he is gonna have those 10 million dollar stars in his eyes to be the #1 receiver. Probably best to let him prove he can be the same receiver in triple coverage.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

eh, how? Which of those guys are you going to extend to get the bonuses to convert? Personally, I wouldn't extend any of those 4. Last year we converted signing to roster bonus on Cutler to bring more of his cap hit out of future years into last year's once it was clear we could afford to, but that INCREASED the annual hit, not decreased it. That being said, since we have a little room, I wouldn't mind a bit more of that.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

oops, I am wrong on that, they took the money out of his salary last year not the signing/roster bonus switcheroo. Apologies.

This being said, why would we want to put additional dead money hits from Cutler's contract to buy room this year? I'd rather we do the exact opposite.

 

[NCChiFan]

So what can we tell from this? Clearly, you have to expect more O linemen, at least one more tackle and one more on interior.

Boom, you called it...

Zach Zaidman ‏@ZachZaidman 1m1 minute ago

#Bears announce they have signed G Vladimir Ducasse

 

[anotheridiot]

oops, I am wrong on that, they took the money out of his salary last year not the signing/roster bonus switcheroo. Apologies.

This being said, why would we want to put additional dead money hits from Cutler's contract to buy room this year? I'd rather we do the exact opposite.

Its how those 4 contracts are worded. The bears do not need permission from any of them to convert their deals and write them checks. Jays salary went from 22 to 18 last year and considering the dead money column is pretty light this year they should be able to free up plenty.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

But why would we? I would argue that pushing dead money hits into future years in exchange for less this year is a cardinal mistake.

The amount of money on Gould's & Slauson's contracts are pretty negligible. Obviously Cutler's is the real money pool. But pushing even more dead money of his into the future.....*shuddering*.

 

[NCChiFan]

But why would we? I would argue that pushing dead money hits into future years in exchange for less this year is a cardinal mistake.

The amount of money on Gould's & Slauson's contracts are pretty negligible. Obviously Cutler's is the real money pool. But pushing even more dead money of his into the future.....*shuddering*.

Yea, I bet Pace is really chomping at the bit over this issue.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

The NFL shows the Bears with $15.226 million in cap space, but this does not include the rookie salary slots coming from the drafted guys. For comparison, Sportrac (the site I use) shows $15.187 million in cap space. The $9.452 number mentioned above includes/assumes the rookies drafted all make the roster and get the CBA-agreed salaries.

Nice to see that Sportrac is that close to the NFL's numbers, that gives me some confidence in it as a reference.

One other thing, I wonder if Mason Foster is still in the cards. I haven't heard of him signing anywhere yet.

 

[nebearsfan70]

An article on ESPN.com stated the Bears have above-average cap space...the average being $14,179,008. I really don't see that as "above average" but I guess it is better than being under the average.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

The main reason we are "above average" is because we went into the offseason with the fewest number of guys under contract in the entire league. We had some room because we have so many holes.

 

[anotheridiot]

Yea, I bet Pace is really chomping at the bit over this issue.

Dont know if this is a negative or positive. He needs to make an impact, I am on the side that prefer the impact is made draft day and not searching for other teams players,

The main reason we are "above average" is because we went into the offseason with the fewest number of guys under contract in the entire league. We had some room because we have so many holes.

well, 9 million allotted to peppers for his dead money hits along with 2 million to michael bush. I think the whole dead money total was the price of an elite quarterback last year.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

Neither of those guys have dead money this year. The only significant dead money this year as of right now is from Marshall.

 

[nebearsfan70]

The main reason we are "above average" is because we went into the offseason with the fewest number of guys under contract in the entire league. We had some room because we have so many holes.

I know... I'm just being a smart ass.