6 Bears Cap Casualty Cuts to Save Over $25 Million This Offseason

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.