adam

We had 4 years between Gould's last year and Santos in 2020. So I am glad this position is locked up and won't be something that needs attention for the foreseeable future. Gould signed a 4-yr/$19M deal in 2019 (at 37), so this is a very solid deal for a 29-yr old kicker.

Huge need filled. Now let's address QB.

Hmm Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone,?? How many verses can you spell Chicago with?

So my math has the Bears having the following picks: 1-20 2-52 3-84 5-165 6-204 6-221 (comp) 6-228 (comp) 7-246 (from MIA)

It is a trade-off. He is almost non-existent between the 20s, where most of the game is played. If you had to only keep one of ARob or Graham, it is a no-brainer. However, if he was willing to add an extra year to his deal and knock off a couple of mil on his current cap hit, I wouldn't be opposed to that. I think it still comes back to who the QB is going to be. They would have to clear a ton of space to bring in someone like Wilson or Watson, which seems highly unlikely unless the team traded away players with a minimal dead cap with high cap hits (Hicks is only one that fits that bill).

He restructures Leno.

To summarize, Restructure Fuller, Mack, Jackson, and Whitehair = save $20M Cut Leno and Graham = save $16M Extend ARob = save $1-2M That would give the Bears $18-22M in cap space for free agency and rookie pool.

Yeah, me either, GB did that crazy deal with all the front end money, which now makes him a prime candidate for a restructure with low risk.

So between Fuller, Mack, Jackson, and Whitehair, the Bears could potentially save around $20M in cap with somewhat safe restructures.

For Mack, it looks like they can push back about $4M without too much risk. Jackson's deal is actually pretty good for the Bears. He only has $10M guaranteed remaining on his deal (all this year), and nothing afterwards. So the Bears could save a couple of million and give him a little more guaranteed by converting salary to bonus. It looks like they can save $2-3M with a restructure. Whitehair can save about $1M this year without much risk. So with these 3, I can see no more than $8M in savings.

His is really easy as long as he is willing to do it. He has 3 years left on his deal, $20M this year, then only $1.5M left each of the next two years. Thanks GB. So the Bears can convert most of it into a signing bonus (convert $18M to bonus, w/$2M base), then spread the hit over the next 3 years, converting the cap hits into $8M in 2021, $7.5M in 2022, and $7.5M in 2023. That saves $12M right there and doesn't really cost the Bears anything.

If they extend Robinson and cut his cap hit down a few, plus cut Leno and Graham, they would be under the cap, but not able to sign any FAs or their rookies. So they will have to do some work with Mack, Fuller, Hicks, Jackson, and Whitehair to free up some additional cap for some free agents and rookies.

Graham cut saves $7M.

Bears are $17.5M over the cap with ARob's tag. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/chicago-bears/

The math can begin.

So with the tag, are the Bears going to: 1. Play him under the tag? (highly unlikely due to cap hit) 2. Renegotiate a long term contract (likely due to cap hit) 3. Trade before draft (also a possibility, probably depends on QB)

I wish him the best. Injuries piled up, and lifting weights is nothing like an NFL season, otherwise, I would be a perennial All-Pro in my mid-40s.

I guess it would be Mariota, potentially Bridgewater, and another out-of-left-field option is Matt Ryan.

He didn't like how the team handled his departure, though he never played for another team afterwards. So I am sure he wanted a little more respect on the way out and how they handled the Cohen IG video with him naked in the background.

They have a few they can redo, Fuller, Jackson, Whitehair, Mack, and Hicks all can be re-done without killing future years.

This move adds to Skrine's last week:

The purge begins:

I guess it will come down to the QB situation and if we can even afford ARob going forward.

The Franchise Tag's deadline is tomorrow. The new league year starts on March 17th (next Wednesday), so the Bears will have to get under the cap by that date. If they tag ARob, they would have to shed a ton of salary to get under the cap in a week. The only options I see are the following: 1. Franchise Tag and renegotiate a long-term deal to lessen the cap hit in 2021. 2. Tag and trade 3. Let him go to free agency, but still work a deal with him 4. Let him go, don't pursue

Kyle still thinks the Bears will make a splash.