UPDATE: It’s officially official! In announcing the restructuring via the Chicago Bears’ official website, Larry Mayer writes the deal frees up cap space while also ensuring Long’s return for a seventh season. Details of the restructuring have not been made public, but OverTheCap.com had Long’s cap number at $8.5 million with a $6.9 million base salary. No matter how the deal is restructured, it’s a nice gesture for a team player who is willing to make a small sacrifice.
Our original post is as follows.
Kyle Long just did the Bears a solid that could pay off big once the NFL’s new league year kicks in.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets that Long has agreed to restructure his contract (likely in order to create some much-needed cap room at Halas Hall). It’s a move that also locks in Long as the team’s starting right guard in 2019. The report from Biggs came moments after Long dropped one heck of a Twitter tease:
https://twitter.com/Ky1eLong/status/1100427122617794562
A healthy chunk of the Bears’ core is set, but a team whose cap constraints limited potential movement needed help from a veteran willing to make sacrifice in order to create spending space. By restructuring his contract, it appears Long did just that. The 2018 season provided Long’s first taste of the playoffs since being drafted by the Bears in 2013. So it’s understandable why he would be willing to make this type of sacrifice.
We’ll do a more comprehensive write-up later when details surrounding the money situation become clearer. But for now, it would make sense that this move was made in order to maximize spending flexibility this offseason. Perhaps more moves are on the way. If so, this counts as a good first step in what is expected to be an interesting offseason for the Bears.