Chicago Bears: Underrated veteran cut leads to even more cap space

A year ago, the Chicago Bears attempted to rebuild their defensive line starting in free agency. New head coach Matt Eberflus brought over a familiar face along the defensive line, as the Bears signed former Colts defensive end, Al-Quadin Muhammad.

Originally signing a two-year, $8 million deal, Muhammad came to Chicago after the best year of his career in 2021, where he finished with 6.0 sacks as a rotational edge rusher.

Last year with the Bears, Muhammad totaled just 1.0 sack. It was a down year for the Bears’ defensive line, as a whole, but Muhammad certainly did not help the case. As the season concluded, Muhammad looked like he could be in for a cut and instead start looking for his fourth NFL team.

Just a couple of days ago, that’s exactly what happened. The Bears announced they were going to cut the veteran edge rusher after just one season in Chicago.

After cutting Al-Quadin Muhammad, the Chicago Bears’ salary cap space approaches $100 million

Last week, the Bears effectively had $94.4 million in cap space for 2023, which of course leads the NFL by a wide margin. After the release of Muhammad, that number moved to $98.3 million.

In cutting the veteran defensive end, the Bears saved about $4 million to add right back into rebuilding this roster.

Now, Poles has nearly $100 million in cap space to spend on positions like, well, defensive line.

The Bears’ defensive line had a difficult time in 2022 both stopping the run and getting to the quarterback. Ideally, Muhammad was supposed to help in the latter, but didn’t.

Adding to the defensive front via free agency is going to be a must for Poles. There are some excellent names out there for the Bears to entertain on the interior. Names like Da’Ron Payne, Javon Hargrave, among others, are tantalizing possibilities for Poles and the Bears.

As for defensive end, the Bears should go all-in on that position in the draft. This year’s class is very top-heavy through the first two rounds, and depending on whether the Bears move the number 1 pick, they could end up with a top-tier edge rusher and another top-tier player in the first round if the chips fall their way.