The Chicago Bears are already entering the 2024 offseason with a lot of salary cap space. They have over $49 million in total cap space according to Spotrac and could do plenty of damage with that kind of flexibility in NFL free agency.
But as the Bears continue to look to shape the roster, general manager Ryan Poles now has to consider multiple new coaches on staff to cater to. The Bears hired Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator and former Bills assistant Eric Washington as their defensive coordinator.
Along with new coaching hires typically will come plenty of player personnel moves to follow. Could the Chicago Bears still be looking to dump players for even more salary cap space than they already have?
1. Eddie Jackson, Safety
The Chicago Bears are facing a pretty crucial offseason for veteran safety Eddie Jackson, who has been a really great NFL Draft find for this team since he was drafted back in 2017. But his time with the franchise could be coming to an end.
Jackson is due to count over $18 million on this year's salary cap for the Bears, and they could save $12.56 million by cutting him. Adding that amount of cap space would bring in potentially multiple starters in free agency for the Bears, and they could look to 2024 free agency for help at the safety position. This year's free agency crop at safety is tremendous and Chicago could find a new starter with no issue.
The fact that Jackson has missed a total of 10 games over the last two seasons and hasn't played a full schedule since 2020 also doesn't really work well in his favor. I think the Bears could move on and probably upgrade in free agency pretty easily here.
2. Cody Whitehair, OL
One of the areas that general manager Ryan Poles has really had to reshape since coming to Chicago is the offensive line. This has been a problem area for the team and they haven't been able to lock in many long-term solutions through the NFL Draft, at least not before Poles got to town.
But they are hoping those days are over.
The Bears may be down to needing just one long-term starter on the offensive line with Braxton Jones impressing at left tackle this past season, Teven Jenkins making a seamless transition to left guard, and both Nate Davis and Darnell Wright locking down the right side.
The Bears have held out hope long enough for someone like Cody Whitehair, who has a salary cap figure of $13.25 million this offseason. The Bears could save over $9 million by getting rid of Whitehair, and I think those are savings they will gladly take.
Whitehair doesn't even project right now as a starter anywhere for Chicago, and the 2016 second-round pick should be looking elsewhere for work this coming season.
3. DeMarcus Walker, DL
You never want to move on from big-money free agents so quickly, but the Chicago Bears have a decision to make entering year two with DeMarcus Walker in the fold. Chicago could go out and be aggressive on the defensive line in free agency, which I think they will, but they might have to move on from Walker in order to do that.
Walker has always been a really effective player in the NFL on a per-snap basis. Meaning Walker doesn't always need a ton of snaps in order to make a major impact on games. The Bears decided last offseason that they were going to be the team to finally give DeMarcus Walker a full-time snap count, and there were mixed results.
He picked things up after the Montez Sweat addition, but for too much of the season, Walker wasn't effective enough to justify his price tag. The Bears would have to eat over $4 million in dead money, but they could also save over $4.5 million against the salary cap if they move on from Walker this offseason.
He played more snaps (over 700) than any of his previous stops in the NFL last year and wasn't nearly as effective on a per-snap basis as he was at previous stops. Perhaps the Bears will cut his snaps instead of getting him off the roster, but he's a candidate.
4. Velus Jones Jr., WR/KR
The Chicago Bears will almost undoubtedly be giving the wide receiver position an overhaul for the 2024 season. Aside from DJ Moore (an extension candidate this offseason, another move that could save the Bears a ton of 2024 salary cap space), the Bears don't really have a ton of defined pieces at one of the game's most important positions.
Darnell Mooney is a free agent. Equanimeous St. Brown was not a good acquisition and is also a free agent.
The other major question mark right now is 2022 third-round pick Velus Jones Jr., who has yet to emerge as a strong option at either receiver or in the return game. And that really doesn't bode well for his roster chances going forward.
The Bears could save nearly $1 million by cutting bait with Jones, who has a salary cap hit of just under $1.5 million this year. Even though he's only entering his third NFL season, Jones is already going to turn 27 this offseason.
And in the near future, he could very well be looking for work. I don't know if the Bears are going to be super patient with Jones going forward, and he hasn't really given them any reason to be.
5. Justin Fields, QB
Justin Fields is not a cut candidate, so we have to cheat to include him on the list a little bit here. But moving on from Fields via trade will add a ton of cap space for the Bears not only in 2024 but in 2025 as well.
Fields has a cap hit of over $6 million this coming season. Relatively speaking, that's nothing at the quarterback position. The Bears will save over $3 million by trading Fields at some point before the 2024 NFL Draft, and that trade will also put the ball in another team's court to decide whether or not they want to pick up Fields' fifth-year club option.
At this stage, the decision of whether or not you want to pick up Fields' option would be made by the time a trade is struck. It seems extremely unlikely that any other NFL team would want to trade for just one season of Fields. He's obviously a dynamic option when it comes to running the football, but Fields made strides this past season as a passer that we've really not yet seen from him as an NFL quarterback.
Those strides likely bought him two seasons at his next NFL stop beyond Chicago, assuming the Bears decide to go with Caleb Williams at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft as many expect them to do at this point.
6. Travis Homer, RB
Just like the wide receiver position, the Chicago Bears could be shaping up to completely revamp the running back position in the 2024 offseason.
Khalil Herbert led the team with 611 yards in 12 games this past season, and obviously if the Bears move on from Justin Fields, another big part of their running game leaves with him. New offensive coordinator Shane Waldron will have a promising young back in Roschon Johnson to work with, but one player who could be on the way out despite familiarity with Waldron is former Seahawks running back and special teams player Travis Homer.
Homer signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Bears last offseason, and finished the 2023 season with exactly zero offensive touches and zero yards from scrimmage. He hasn't returned a kick since 2021. Even as a "core four" special teams guy, the Bears could save nearly $2 million by cutting Homer and they might be able to easily replace his production in the later portion of the NFL Draft.
Homer does have history in Seattle, which could play in his favor with Waldron now on board, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bears opt for the cap savings and the roster space here.
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