Thread: Jensen: Bears can afford a free agent OT

@JasonLaCanfora: Bengals have indicated they will franchise DE Michael Johnson. No tags had been officially placed by start of today. Deadline is Monday

Could mean that Andre Smith is coming available.

@JasonLaCanfora: for those who have asked about Wallace, Goldson, Bushrod, Loadholt, Avril, W. Moore - no tag coming for any of them

You can just about squeeze anybody into your cap space when you structure a long term deal.
Here are the Beatty breakdowns. It was 5 years with a 12.5mil SB. They gave him a 1mil base salary
and some 50k misc bonus so his first year hit is only a 3.55mil cap hit. You can see that you pay the piper as time goes on though.

This is why it is imperative that the Bears can reach a long term deal with Melton ASAP because when they franchise
him, the 8.3 counts against the cap right away. So w/o any restructures, the 13.5mil goes down to 5.2 immediatly.
For an example, If they signed him to a 5/45 with a 15mil SB and 1mil base salry, his 2013 cap hit is only 4mil.

Here is how the deal breaks down:

Originally Posted by Coolhandluke

You can just about squeeze anybody into your cap space when you structure a long term deal.
Here are the Beatty breakdowns. It was 5 years with a 12.5mil SB. They gave him a 1mil base salary
and some 50k misc bonus so his first year hit is only a 3.55mil cap hit. You can see that you pay the piper as time goes on though.

This is why it is imperative that the Bears can reach a long term deal with Melton ASAP because when they franchise
him, the 8.3 counts against the cap right away. So w/o any restructures, the 13.5mil goes down to 5.2 immediatly.
For an example, If they signed him to a 5/45 with a 15mil SB and 1mil base salry, his 2013 cap hit is only 4mil.

Here is how the deal breaks down:

With Peppers and other aging defensive stars coming off the books, and hopefully being replaced by draft picks, the Bears can afford to pay the piper on some offensive guys down the road.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

With Peppers and other aging defensive stars coming off the books, and hopefully being replaced by draft picks, the Bears can afford to pay the piper on some offensive guys down the road.

Exactly. Back loading a couple contracts a bit might not be such a bad idea when you consider that Peppers, Urlacher, Tillman, and Briggs will be coming off the books the next 2-4 years. And the cap is expected to increase significantly in 2015 due to the CBA.

I think this is the toughest question for the bears this offseason.

We need an OT.

But I doubt we have the opportunity to draft one.

And we have limited free agent resources.

It tells me we are not getting the perfect player and we are going to need to compromise in some areas.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

With Peppers and other aging defensive stars coming off the books, and hopefully being replaced by draft picks, the Bears can afford to pay the piper on some offensive guys down the road.

For sure. I sure wish they could come to an agreement and use that additional 4mil in cap space, but it doesnt appear likely.
Thats a starting OL which would allow them more flexibility in the draft.

Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer
With OT market flooded, Saints have made it clear they wanna keep Jermon Bushrod. Have to work thru cap first. Expected to talk next week.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer
With OT market flooded, Saints have made it clear they wanna keep Jermon Bushrod. Have to work thru cap first. Expected to talk next week.

Not a big loss there as we have discussed. Emery can still make a play for Albert or Levitre (prefer the former) in FA if he gets some re-signings/extensions done.