To be fair, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace had loads of money to spend in 2018 at over $60 million. Then again he’s the one responsible for such a robust total right? His hard work to clear bloated contracts off the books since 2015 set the team up for this spending spree that has the entire football community in Chicago buzzing. Some people are concerned he may have overdone it, but evaluations say otherwise.
Pace has said in the past that he’d prefer to avoid spending too much in free agency. It can be a losing proposition to rely too much on that avenue of talent acquisition. He wants to build the Bears through the draft. It’s not a bad philosophy. The problem is a GM doesn’t have near the time to build his team as predecessors did 20-30 years ago. Most don’t get much longer than three years.
Pace is entering his fourth with the previous three all being losing seasons. Thus far the Bears ownership has stayed patient, but that won’t last. He had to start making a greater effort to win football games. It begins with putting all that money he’s guarded so carefully to good use. Early results show he does indeed know how to spend, but not without his usual sense of long-term responsibility.
Pace made a flurry of quality signings without breaking the bank
The greatest challenge of free agency is finding a way to be active and gaining quality talent without ruining the chances of doing more of the same down the road. Pace hasn’t always hit on some of his signings but he at least keeps that vital key in mind. This time around, at least on paper, it looks like he absolutely nailed it. We’ll start with the big fish.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Allen Robinson is highest cap hit but 86th highest in NFL
As of now, the two biggest contracts the Bears handed out this year were to cornerback Kyle Fuller and wide receiver Allen Robinson. Each will make an average of $14 million per years, making them the eighth and ninth highest salaries signed in 2018 free agency. That may sound like a lot but this is where Pace’s creativity comes in.
Thanks to some shrewd negotiating the highest cap hit on the Bears roster this year is Robinson with $11.062 million. That may sound like a lot until you realize it’s currently the 86th highest cap hit among all teams this season. Nobody else on the payroll is even close with Akiem Hicks commanding $9 million. As for Fuller, thanks to the deal he accepted from Green Bay, his deal was backloaded so his cap hit this year was only $6.5 million.
No other free agent cap hit goes higher than $7.5 million
After that, things pretty much settle down. The next closest free agent on the payroll is the retained Prince Amukamara who hauled in $9 million per year on a three-year deal. His cap hit sits at a tolerable $7.5 million this season. According to overthecap.com, the Bears team cap space sits somewhere in the vicinity of $32.81 million. It should be noted that the deal for wide receiver Taylor Gabriel, valued at $6.5 million per year, has not been released yet.
Still, for the Bears to sign or bring back 12 free agents thus far and still sit well above $20 million in salary cap space? That’s a tremendous job. The upcoming draft class will likely not cost any more than $5 million dollars for this season. In other words, the Bears have just enough room to make one more big move if they wished. This isn’t even noting that the contract for linebacker Jerrell Freeman remains on the books. When that finally goes, it will net them another $3.46 million.
Ryan Pace has done a phenomenal job for the Bears this offseason. Get a decent draft and they have a window to compete.
— Johnny Kinsley (@Brickwallblitz) March 20, 2018
There is still a lot of talent on the open market. If Pace is feeling lucky, he might throw caution to the wind and strike one more time. Either way, no one can say he didn’t do his job this year trying to make the Bears a better football team.
