NEWSLETTER
Trading team leaders is tough.
But the NFL is a tough business.
And when the Bears swallowed hard and executed trades of Robert Quinn (to the Eagles) and Roquan Smith (to the Ravens), it left some fans scrambling to find what they can look forward to in the future. And then the Chase Claypool trade happened, providing newfound clarity to the Bears’ situation. I can see the vision for this franchise’s future as it builds alongside Justin Fields. If you allow yourself to be patient, the payoff could be superb. And if you can just take a few hits for the short-term on Sunday, the juice could be worth the squeeze.
For starters, here’s what the Chicago Bears have to look forward to this upcoming offseason.
Firstly, with picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft (with pick projections via Tankathon):
That is a mighty fine-looking bit of draft capital for the Bears in 2023. And to think, it could conceivably grow. Just imagine what Poles could do if he gets trade-back options at any point of the draft. We saw what he did in his first draft creating a bunch of Day 3 picks out of thin air. Having nine picks right now feels like a lot — especially for a Bears team that hasn’t had much draft capital in recent years. It doesn’t take much squinting to imagine that collection of picks growing.
And then there is the cap space aspect of this.
OverTheCap.com currently estimates the Bears as having $119,468,235 in cap space next offseason. And that isn’t accounting for potential rollover space from 2022 (the Bears are currently $11,374,061 under the cap). Nor does it include additional cap space it could create with future trades or cuts. So … let’s get weird!
Sure, the Bears have a bunch of heavy lifting to do in the offseason. But with 10 picks (and the potential for more) and at least $100 million in wiggle room under the salary cap, it looks like the Bears will be BUSY this offseason. Can’t wait.
