Chicago Bears: Potential cap casualties in 2021 offseason

4. CB Buster Skrine

Signed to a three-year deal during the 2019 offseason, Buster Skrine was a solid nickel cornerback for the Bears in 2019. Now, as he’s set to turn 31 years old, he’s not getting any younger and has a cap hit of $6.1 million dollars in 2020 and 2021.

Additionally, were the Bears to cut Skrine before June 1st, 2021, they’d save just $2.8 million dollars in cap space while having $3.3 million dollars in dead money leftover. Besides just age and a high cap hit, why is Skrine a candidate to be cut next offseason?

The answer is simple: At the nickel position, the Bears have younger players like Duke Shelley and Kindle Vidor, both of whom could end up making the roster in 2020, potentially seeing some action and then competing in 2021 for the opportunity to start at nickel cornerback.

While Skrine’s contract runs through the end of the 2021 season, cutting him after June 1st, 2021 makes the most sense as he’d save the Bears five million dollars in cap space, a bit of extra money that the team could roll over and then use in the 2022 offseason.

The key thing with Skrine will be timing. If the Bears are desperate for money, then they could cut him before June 1st for some financial flexibility. However, if the team’s salary cap situation sets up in such a way where they can afford to cut him after June 1st, that makes sense as well.