The Chicago Bears have a new outlook for cap space
The Chicago Bears went through a lean year in 2022. They lead the league in dead cap, which aided the Bears in gaining the number one draft pick this spring. Now they head into the offseason with the most money to spend in free agency by a wide margin. The Bears will have even more money in their coffers from a salary cap increase in 2023.
According to Tim Pelissero with the NFL Network, the league is raising the salary cap from $208.2 million in 2022 to $224.8 million in 2023. That’s a $16.6 million increase or a 7.97 percent increase over 2022.
The NFL informed teams today that the 2023 salary cap will be a record $224.8 million per club, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
That’s up from $208.2 million in 2022, $182.5M in 2021 (COVID adjustment), 198.2M in 2020 and $188.2M in 2019.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 30, 2023
The Bears lead the league in cap space
According to Spotrac, the Bears will have $98 million in cap space this offseason.
Estimated 2023 Cap Space
1. #Bears, $98M
2. #Falcons, $56M
3. #Bengals, $44.5M*
4. #Giants, $44.4M
5. #Patriots, $38M
…
30. #Jaguars, -$32M
31. #Buccaneers, -$55M
32. #Saints, -$57M*reserve/future contracts not yet includedhttps://t.co/lSUFgEJ1Xu
— Spotrac (@spotrac) January 30, 2023
The team with the second most cap space is the Atlanta Falcons, who have $56 million for 2023. That’s $42 million less than the Bears, which is around the number of total cap space the third-place Cincinnati Bengals will have.
The Bears have an embarrassment of riches in cap space for next season. This is good because the Bears were an embarrassment of a franchise on the field in 2022 with their skeleton roster. The Bears should be able to sign some flashy free-agent names or make trades where they can pay for a hefty salary.
The Bears should look to help the offense by signing a running back like Saquan Barkley. They could improve the defense by fortifying the defensive line. Daron Payne would be at the top of my list for the Bears to pick up in free agency on defense.
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