Good read on the salary cap.

[leomaz]

According to Spotrac.com (an excellent resource for those looking to follow money matters for their teams), the Chicago Bears currently have 47 players under contract for 2014, with about $4.8 million in cap space left. In the offseason, the top 51 contracts count towards the cap, so that means the Bears would need to fill 4 slots with that $4.8 million.

Right now the Bears have seven draft picks, and signing them will cost just a shade under $5 million based on the contracts signed by players drafted in their same slots in 2013. That should take about an additional $3 to 3.5 million off their remaining cap space (after you remember only the top 51 salaries count), leaving them with somewhere around $1.5 million in cap space (hat tip to Dan Durkin for this information. If you are a Bears fan, I highly recommend you follow him on Twitter, especially for updates to the salary cap as the Bears make moves than change things).

Depending on when you read this, some of these numbers may end up being a little off. The NFL awards bonuses based on people hitting certain incentives from the previous year that can impact the cap, and teams also will look to change some contracts. Regardless of the exact numbers, the important point to get here is this: the Chicago Bears don’t have much money to spend right now.

Since Chicago still needs to add several defensive starters, I think it is safe to assume the Chicago Bears are going to have to make some moves to free up cap space. Let’s look at some likely moves they could consider through four different routes to find some cash they can spend.

Player cuts

The first and most obvious way to free up some money is by cutting players, particularly expensive ones who are paid more than what they are worth. Before we get to names of players who the Chicago Bears could cut, there are two important points to consider.

First, most players will have some sort of dead money when you cut them. So dumping a player with a $3 million cap hit but $1 million in guaranteed money will only save you $2 million dollars.

Second, any player who is cut must have roughly $500,000 slotted for a minimum-level replacement (the actual minimum contract is $420,000, but some will be higher than that, so we’ll say $500,000 for a safe number). So, in that $3 million scenario, cutting that player and replacing him with a minimum-level contract ends up saving you $1.5 million that you now have available to spend above that $500,000 minimum on somebody else.

With that said, there are five likely players the Chicago Bears could look to cut in cost-saving moves. The first-and most likely to be cut-is defensive end Julius Peppers, who is set to have a cap hit of $18.2 million in 2014. Cutting Peppers still leaves $8.4 million in dead money, a savings of $9.8 million ($9.3 million when you factor in $500,000 for a contract to take up his roster spot).

One option the Chicago Bears could take with Peppers is to designate him as a June 1 cut. This splits his dead money across the next two cap years, meaning it would free up $14 million in 2014 cap space ($13.5 million when you factor in another contract filling that slot) but still make Peppers have a 2015 cap hit of $4.2 million.

Teams get two June 1 designations to use every year, and the player can still be cut before free agency begins in March. A second option for this tag from the Chicago Bears would be backup running back Michael Bush. The team could save $2.3 million (after factoring in a replacement contract) by deeming him a June 1 cut, but the price would be an extra $1 million in dead money on the 2015 cap. If they simply cut him without using the June 1 designation, they would save $1.3 million on the 2014 cap.

Three other possible cut candidates include punter Adam Podlesh (would save $525,000) and wide receivers Eric Weems (would save $600,000) and Earl Bennett (would save $1.95 million). Add it all up, and the Chicago Bears could end up freeing $18.9 million to spend over a minimum salary of roughly $500,000 ($21.4 million – $500,000 each for those five roster spots).


Pay cut

A second option to free up cap space is to convince players to take a pay cut from the contracts they have already signed. This can be difficult to do, as players are often unwilling to accept it, but they do happen sometimes when a player is happy where he is and might recognize he’s getting paid more than he’s worth on the open market (Green Bay pulled off just such a maneuver with linebacker AJ Hawk last year).

There is one obvious candidate for a pay cut on the Chicago Bears, and that is wide receiver Earl Bennett. Bennett is due to make $2.45 million in 2014, which is too much money for a receiver who had 32 catches for 243 yards and four touchdowns last year despite playing in fifteen games. Another point working in Chicago’s favor is that Bennett has no guaranteed money left on his deal, so it’s not like he can simply take that and look to make up the difference elsewhere.

In 2013, Bennett took a $1 million pay cut, with the option to earn it back through incentives; he ended up earning $500,000 back. I would imagine the Chicago Bears would be able to convince him to take a similar deal this year without too much trouble. This would free up $1 million in cap room, which in my opinion is preferable to losing Bennett but freeing up $1.95 million.

Stay tuned

So far I have covered two of the four ways the Chicago Bears could look to free up cap room for 2014. Stay tuned for the second half of this series, when I will look at the other two and then re-visit Chicago’s cap situation in light of these potential moves.


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[cubzzzfanincali]

while I didn't learn anything, I agree this is a nice summary and if you are new to these dynamics this is a great start.

I agree it would be nice to get Bennett to take a pay cut, but the problem is you have to convince him you will really cut him so he thinks there are some teeth in the threat of him being cut. The problem with cutting Bennett is you probably have to turn around and go sign a journey level receiver who costs you just as much (Bennett's salary - dead money) and you are rolling dice on chemistry Bennett does have. I think that's kind of a wash.

Same with Bush.

Peppers is the obvious choice. Sorry, he just is. The other obvious move are trades of the higher salaried guys. I'm looking at you Lance Briggs. Sorry, you rock, but the more I think about it, the more your time has come to be traded to a contender-now for a draft pick and the cap space savings.

 

[wood20ks]

The first-and most likely to be cut-is defensive end Julius Peppers, who is set to have a cap hit of $18.2 million in 2014. Cutting Peppers still leaves $8.4 million in dead money, a savings of $9.8 million ($9.3 million when you factor in $500,000 for a contract to take up his roster spot).


Dead money from Peppers is 8.4 mill.....That means if we cut him he will still get a pay day of 8.4 mill out of our pocket......and we will have an extra 9.8 mill to spend on another player.Am I reading this correctly?

If I am,then we are with out a defensive end that is gonna need replaced.And with our awful defense,we are still gonna have to pay for a bonafide player.
Shea fucking blows,so he put us in a bad situation...........I wonder what type of money a decent end will bring.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

The first-and most likely to be cut-is defensive end Julius Peppers, who is set to have a cap hit of $18.2 million in 2014. Cutting Peppers still leaves $8.4 million in dead money, a savings of $9.8 million ($9.3 million when you factor in $500,000 for a contract to take up his roster spot).


Dead money from Peppers is 8.4 mill.....That means if we cut him he will still get a pay day of 8.4 mill out of our pocket......and we will have an extra 9.8 mill to spend on another player.Am I reading this correctly?

Technically, no, you are not reading it correctly. Dead money against the cap means it costs them - on an accounting basis - against the cap, not that they actually have to write a check to him that amount. The only checks they HAVE to write are the guaranteed/bonus money, and that money was spent long ago.

But for a fan, who doesn't care about writing large multimillion dollar checks because they aren't ones writing them, one might not care. An accounting debit isn't a fan's cost...the only thing you care about is what's on the field right?

But here is why cutting Peppers makes sense anyway. It still saves the cap $9+ million. So - as a fan - you have to ask the question this way: is Julius Peppers worth $9+ million (in cap space)? To this fan, given that he seems to be sliding off the thirtysomething cliff, my answer is "no". Many other people think "no" too. You might not agree, that's fine. But $9+ million buys you a pretty good DE. The Peppers of old, no. But maybe a younger guy who has more long-run potential? Yes, definitely. Or you could forsake the star money and just sign two solid DEs, guys that will be serviceable but not extraordinary, and have some insurance against injury on the D Line, not exactly the Bears asset lately.

 

[fastforward]

The question with Peppers is very simply is he worth $13,900,000 this year? If he is you keep him. If he isn't you cut him, trade him or agree a lower salary. He has a cap hit this year, (and next), of $4,183,000. Those cap hits are for money he has already been paid but which hasn't yet been accounted for against the cap. They will count regardless of whether he stays or not. If he leaves the Bears before June 1st the 2015 cap hit will be moved forward into 2014. All teams have the option to post date 2 player cuts after that date so the Bears could release him early and still have the 2015 cap hit count in 2015. So...will he stay? If not the Bears can then decide whether to have his 2015 cap hit count in 2015 or 2014.