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Even after the Cutler & Marshall extensions, the Bears look great for the future cap-wise. We are approximately $25 million (edit: $26,669,593) under the cap for 2015. The only starters that are not under contract for 2015 are: Briggs, Tillman, DJ Williams, & Stephen Paea on defense and Garza on offense. Other than Paea, those also happen to be most of the old guys on the team and I only expect Briggs to be back from that group on a 1 or 2 year deal. Also I do not expect that Paea will start this year. He'll lose out to Sutton, Ferguson or Ratliff. We already are grooming Williams replacement, just drafted Tillman's and signed Garza's replacement this offseason (De la Puente will need to be extended).

Moving forward, we have only Jeffery to worry about and not until 2016 (unless Shea blossoms). The good thing is 1) Allen has no cap hit in 2016 and can be released to save $8.5 million and 2) Forte is off the books in 2016 and will probably not be resigned (will turn 31 during the 2016 season).

So with our core on offense in tact the Bears project to be up to $67 million under the cap heading into the 2016 season with only Jeffrey to sign or franchise tag at that point. Of course basic free agency and drafted players will take up some of that but I would not be surprised to see us consistently $20-30 million under the cap moving forward.

Emery has been masterful at turning our cap situation around. We have no dead money, no high paid unproductive old guys, no need to use a franchise tag for the next 2 seasons and are now FINALLY set up to build through the draft.

emperorjones wrote:Even after the Cutler & Marshall extensions, the Bears look great for the future cap-wise. We are approximately $25 million under the cap for 2015. The only starters that are not under contract for 2015 are: Briggs, Tillman, DJ Williams, & Stephen Paea on defense and Garza on offense. Other than Paea, those also happen to be most of the old guys on the team and I only expect Briggs to be back from that group on a 1 or 2 year deal. Also I do not expect that Paea will start this year. He'll lose out to Sutton, Ferguson or Ratliff. We already are grooming Williams replacement, just drafted Tillman's and signed Garza's replacement this offseason (De la Puente will need to be extended).

Moving forward, we have only Jeffery to worry about and not until 2016 (unless Shea blossoms). The good thing is 1) Allen has no cap hit in 2016 and can be released to save $8.5 million and 2) Forte is off the books in 2016 and will probably not be resigned (will turn 31 during the 2016 season).

So with our core on offense in tact the Bears project to be up to $67 million under the cap heading into the 2016 season with only Jeffrey to sign or franchise tag at that point. Of course basic free agency and drafted players will take up some of that but I would not be surprised to see us consistently $20-30 million under the cap moving forward.

Emery has been masterful at turning our cap situation around. We have no dead money, no high paid unproductive old guys, no need to use a franchise tag for the next 2 seasons and are now FINALLY set up to build through the draft.

Niiiice. Thanks for the explanation.

So much for the notion that Cutler's contract is going to prevent the team from making moves.

It took Emery a few years to clean up Angelo's mess, but he was able to do it. It just shows how much in shambles this roster was with Angelo in charge.

Its sounds basic, but its truly amazing how important drafting well is for your cap structure. Draft poorly and you end up having to drop into free agency to pick up high cost veteran players that bloat your cap with dead money when you cut them 3-4 years down the road (ie Peppers). Draft well and you have guys on a 4 year rookie scale that is extremely cap friendly. Its no wonder teams that consistently draft well like the Packers (still $15+ million under for 2014) are always competitive, while the Bears & Cowboys consistently struggle to patch holes to stay competitive.

I'm loving this offseason particularly because I see us moving in the right direction draft wise for the first time since the mid 80s.

emperorjones wrote:Its sounds basic, but its truly amazing how important drafting well is for your cap structure. Draft poorly and you end up having to drop into free agency to pick up high cost veteran players that bloat your cap with dead money when you cut them 3-4 years down the road (ie Peppers). Draft well and you have guys on a 4 year rookie scale that is extremely cap friendly. Its no wonder teams that consistently draft well like the Packers (still $15+ million under for 2014) are always competitive, while the Bears & Cowboys consistently struggle to patch holes to stay competitive.

I'm loving this offseason particularly because I see us moving in the right direction draft wise for the first time since the mid 80s.

First of all... this is a 5 star thread!

What's also nice about getting the house in order is eventually you get to a point where instead of drafting for need you can get very opportunistic. If you have no fires to put out on the roster for a season or two, instead of picking the best LB or the best OT with the 29th pick, you're picking the best player regardless of position. It also allows you to take advantage of the desperate teams and trade for more picks or future assets. Its hard to load your roster with impact players from the draft when you are more worried about finding starting caliber players at specific positions.

Also, I read (think it was Brad Biggs mailbag) that Emery had invested in more scouts and promoted others to retain the good ones. It seems like a no-brainer as an organization where free agents are so expensive and non-player personnel don't count against the cap that you would stack your chips in the scouting department... but that wasn't the case until recently. The analytics guru was another great hire along these lines.

Scouts and analytics guys help you find the players with the best potential or the best potential fits, but the success or failure of a draft doesn't end that weekend. The development environment can be the difference between grooming an All Pro from a good prospect rather than a JAG with talent. When I look at guys brought into the coaching staff like Herring, Pasqualini, and the martial arts guy Joe Kim (he's been developing top-notch pass rushers in the NFL since 1992 when Belichick hired him on to the Browns staff)... we're doing it the right way now.

What does all of this have to do with the cap? If you are able to scout well and develop talent in house, you don't have to buy ready-to-deliver talent in free agency which is very expensive and limiting.

Hardy is a FA next year

Just to add here is the full list of guys who are 2015 pending Free Agents

Jordan Palmer
Shaun Draugn
Tony Fiametta
Jordan Lynch
Dominic Hixon
Josh Morgan
Eric Weems
Matthew Mulligan
Taylor Boggs
Eben Britton
Derek Dennis
Brian de la Puenta
Roberto Garza
Nate Collins
Izzy
Austin Lane
Trevor Scott
Briggs
Jordan Senn
Kelvin Hayden
Md Jennings
Derrick Martin
Sherrick Mcmanis
Craig Steltz
Charles Tillman

Incredibility well set up for the future. Remember Cliff Stein, who handles all of our contracts, deserves a lot of credit to.

Some notable FAs we could use tomorrow. I'll assume we try to get Allen's replacement as well.

Slot Receivers:
Welker
Maclin
Eddie Royal
Jordy Nelson
Doug Baldwin
Cobb
Arrelious Benn

TEs:
Gresham
Cameron
Rudolph
Pascoe

Gaurds:
Iupati

DEs
Hardy
Avril
Pierre-Paul

DTs:
Suh
McCoy
Knighton

OLB
Orakpo
Worilds
Weatherspoon
Larry English
Haralson

ILB
Brandon Spikes

CBs
Revis
Cromartie
Thurmond

S
Devin McCourty
Stevie Brown

Barring major injury, I doubt we go heavy into FA next season. Emery has said he wants to build through the draft. All I expect is for him to keep improving depth and signing vets to 1 year "prove it" low ball contacts - which I think is great. Just keep drafting Longs & jeffreys and we'll be fine lol.

emperorjones wrote:Barring major injury, I doubt we go heavy into FA next season. Emery has said he wants to build through the draft. All I expect is for him to keep improving depth and signing vets to 1 year "prove it" low ball contacts - which I think is great. Just keep drafting Longs & jeffreys and we'll be fine lol.

Yep. It'd be nice to pick up a Lamarr Houston level FA to plug a hole we need to but then otherwise just fill out some backup holes with lower level FAs and keep seeing our draft picks turn into studs.

The roster is in great shape... although I'm not sure about cap space. But as far as needs going into NEXT offseason:

FB- We won't have a fullback locked in. I don't think this is a major concern at all though.
C- We won't have a center locked in. We'd have to re-sign (de la Puenta) or replace (draft or semi-big FA).
LB- Ideally between Shea, Bostic, Greene, Jones and Lattimore, two or three guys prove to be starting caliber. If three step up... that means we don't need to put big resources into extending Briggs or replacing him (and/or DJ Williams). Personally... I think this is the most important outcome of this season. Because if we can go into next offseason with fewer needs, we can get VERY opportunistic in the draft.
Safety- Like LB, we'll see how the new additions do. Its possible this won't be a glaring need, but we may need to find someone starting caliber. We just need to let it play out.
WR, TE, CB- We could use quality depth at these positions. But we shouldn't need to allocate immense resources here.

In a perfect world... Mundy and Vereen look like starting safeties, Shea Mac settles in as a bona fide MLB, Bostic and Greene earn starting OLB jobs, and Marquess Wilson looks like a stud no. 3 WR. If we go into next off season only needing a Center plus some minor odds and ends, then we can really take some swings at the most impactful players in the draft rather than plugging holes.

No doubt Emery has set up the cap situation masterfully.

Looks to me like C will be filled by Dr La Puente. Fuller will step in opposite Jennings and hopefully Frey will be ready to be fulltime nickel. I agree with everyone on the LBs, at least two young guys will absolutely have to show they can be good starters

If those guys can step up then we just need to find a replacement for Jared Allen, add depth and dynamic talent. Who knows, maybe someone on the roster will step up and replace Allen

heir_jordan22 wrote:If those guys can step up then we just need to find a replacement for Jared Allen, add depth and dynamic talent. Who knows, maybe someone on the roster will step up and replace Allen

How long are Allen and Willie Young's contracts? I thought we were good there for at least 3 years.

BullHeaded wrote:

heir_jordan22 wrote:If those guys can step up then we just need to find a replacement for Jared Allen, add depth and dynamic talent. Who knows, maybe someone on the roster will step up and replace Allen

How long are Allen and Willie Young's contracts? I thought we were good there for at least 3 years.

Young signed a 3 year deal through 2016 and Allen signed for 4 years through 2017.