"Bears face challenge to free up cap space"

**JustAnotherBearsFan99** · 03-04-2013, 03:58 PM

I wish we had a lot more money than we have.

LINK to the article

Bears face challenge to free up cap space

The Bears face enormous cap hits with Julius Peppers over the next three seasons.

The $8.45 million salary cap charge associated with the franchise designation placed Friday on Chicago Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton definitely limits what the team can do in upcoming free agency, but the move should be viewed at this point as merely a temporary placeholder for cap space.

The situation remains fluid.

By tagging Melton, the Bears essentially widened the window to negotiate a long-term deal by the NFL's July 15 deadline, which is exactly what the club did in franchising running back Matt Forte last March, before signing him to a new four-year deal last summer. So before the Bears strike a more cap-friendly deal with Melton, it's expected the team will make other roster maneuvers through restructures and cuts to free up money to sign its own free agents while clearing the way to make additions once free agency rolls around March 12, the start of the new league year.

With the new salary cap for the 2013 season now officially set at $123 million, the Bears operated approximately $12 million under the cap before franchising Melton on Friday. The latest move leaves the Bears approximately $3.5 million under the salary cap, which is in the neighborhood of what it would take to sign the 2013 rookie class.

But what about their own free agents such as linebacker Brian Urlacher or guard Lance Louis? What about filling needs in free agency?
The Bears want to bring back Louis, defensive end Israel Idonije, defensive tackle Nate Collins (a restricted free agent), reserve cornerback Kelvin Hayden, offensive tackle Jonathan Scott and linebacker Nick Roach. The Bears have also indicated a desire to bring back Urlacher, provided the price is right.

The current cap situation created by franchising Melton makes none of that possible, let alone potentially bringing in outside free agents, which is why the team's latest move with the defensive tackle should be viewed merely as a placeholder for cap space.

It's unknown whether the Bears plan to bring back free agents such as linebacker Geno Hayes, defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, cornerbacks Zack Bowman and Sherrick McManis (tied for lead in special-teams tackles in 2012), safety Anthony Walters or backup quarterbacks Jason Campbell and Josh McCown.

But to make any of that possible, the Bears need to create cap space through restructuring contracts, cutting players, or a combination of both.

Obviously, the most viable candidates for restructures are players with the highest cap numbers headed into the 2013 season. Including Melton ($8.45 million), and Forte ($7.175 million), the Bears have 13 players who carry cap figures into next season of $2.35 million or more, and 10 of them eat up at least $3.55 million of cap space.

It's unlikely but not impossible the Bears would ask players such as Forte and linebacker Lance Briggs ($7.416 million) to redo their deals, considering Forte just signed his contract in July, and Briggs did his in April.

Still, the team could definitely free up space in other ways before the NFL's March 12 deadline for teams to get under the cap.

Peppers, 33, carries the team's highest cap number ($16.383 million) in 2013, and is the most viable for a restructured deal to reduce his cap figure. The team re-worked Peppers' deal in 2011 by converting a $10.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus. But given Peppers' 2014 cap figure of $17.383 million (which swells to $19.683 million in 2015), if the club uses a large portion of his 2013 base salary of $12.9 million to free up cap space, there's a good chance this upcoming season could be his last in Chicago.

The club could also tack what sports agents call "dummy years" onto Peppers' present deal and convert large portions of his base salaries in 2013 and 2014 into a $20 million signing bonus. That would reduce his $12.9 million base salary in 2013 to $2.9 million and his $13.9 million base salary to $3.9 million.

By doing that, the Bears would also reduce Peppers' 2013 cap number from $16.383 million to $10.383 million, and his 2014 figure from $17.183 million to $11.183 million. That would free up $6 million in cap space in each of the next two years. But in 2015, Peppers' cap figure of $19.683 million would grow to $23.683 million.

Quarterback Jay Cutler owns the second-highest number ($10.37 million) as he enters the final year of his contract. The Bears can reduce that figure by signing the quarterback to an extension, but that's an unlikely scenario with a new coach in Marc Trestman, who isn't sure whether Cutler is the club's signal caller of the future. With Cutler, it's likely the Bears handle him the way the Baltimore Ravens dealt with Joe Flacco entering the final year of his deal. They'll likely make him play out the contract.

Sure, if Cutler produces a similar result as Flacco, who is coming off a Super Bowl victory, Cutler's value would increase significantly. The Ravens rewarded Flacco with a contract worth $52 million guaranteed, which may seem stratospheric. But the fact is teams pay premium prices for premium quarterbacks, and the Bears certainly wouldn't balk at paying Cutler provided he proves he's worth it.

Receiver Brandon Marshall carries the third-highest cap figure ($9.3 million), and his contract expires in 2014. Given his productivity in 2012 (a sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season), and age (he'll turn 29 later this month) it would make sense to sign him to an extension that would lower his cap number.

Cornerbacks Charles Tillman ($8 million) and Tim Jennings ($4.1 million), both entering the final year of their contracts, would also seem prime candidates for new deals that would lower their cap figures.

The reality with Melton, however, is that even with an expected long-term deal by July 15, the new contract probably wouldn't represent a significant reduction of the $8.45 million cap figure that comes with the franchise designation. Melton's new salary ranks as the second-highest base salary for 2013 among defensive tackles. Behind Melton and Miami's Randy Starks, who were both tagged, the base salaries of the other highest-paid players at the position range from Tampa Bay Buccaneer Gerald McCoy's $8.021 million to Miami Dolphin Paul Solai's $5.7 million.

So the Bears know they'll ultimately wind up paying Melton somewhere near the $5 million-per-year range.

The truth is a long-term deal for Melton can now be placed on the backburner while the Bears handle more pressing issues with free agency rapidly approaching.

**Punished** · 03-05-2013, 07:38 AM

IMO they should extend Cutler ASAP. Don't let him use higher success as leverage for more money. If Trestman doesn't think he's the right guy, then they would have him for trade bait in the draft next year instead of just letting him walk at the end of this year. Regardless of how the team fairs in 2013, there will still be a handful of bad teams with piss poor Qb play looking for a talent like Jay.

**soulman** · 03-05-2013, 10:55 AM

So the Bears know they'll ultimately wind up paying Melton somewhere near the $5 million-per-year range.

LOL, if the Bears can get Melton signed for anywhere near $5 mil per year Emery and Cliff Stein both deserve a bonus. Try around $8 mil per year. He's in much the same position Forte was and probably has both the productivity and the potential to get a deal somewhere in that same range with what amounts to around $18 mil or so of it guaranteed.

I don't think they're ready to do Cutler's deal just yet at least not until he and Trestman get a chance to work together and the "marriage" Trestman implied must exists between coach and QB is seen to be a solid and survivable one. I'm at least 90% certain that it will get done but neither side seems to be in much of a hurry to do it now.

It might be nice to turn some of Marshall's salary into a bonus and extend him but since he and Cutler seemed joined at the hip that may not happen yet either. If there's any chance that Cutler won't be around BMarsh won't be a happy camper and then he may become a problem child again. Emery probably wants to wait out this year and see how those two perform under Trestman before extending their deals.

So it comes down to guys like Peanut, Jennings, and Pep as far as redoing some deals and then taking a hard look at who's getting what and asking for some salary cuts under the threat of a release. Somewhere in this next week we should start seeing which way the wind blows with some of these guys.

**jackiejokeman** · 03-05-2013, 03:19 PM

Its Peppers paid more then JCut.

If he restuctures to half his price that frees up 8 Mil.

I can sign your whole draft with that kind of freed up money.

**BearStuff** · 03-05-2013, 04:20 PM

I'm not a fan of restructuring Peppers, because it's just kicking the can further down the road on a player who has likely peaked ability wise. He's still great, but he's also getting old.

The Tillman restructure is a no brainer, almost his whole salary cap hit is base salary.

**WindyCity** · 03-05-2013, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by BearStuff

I'm not a fan of restructuring Peppers, because it's just kicking the can further down the road on a player who has likely peaked ability wise. He's still great, but he's also getting old.

The Tillman restructure is a no brainer, almost his whole salary cap hit is base salary.

Marshall as well has 2 years 18 million and 0 of it guaranteed

**MPBears68** · 03-05-2013, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Marshall as well has 2 years 18 million and 0 of it guaranteed

It makes most sense finacially (for current cap benefit) to "restructure" and EXTEND contracts for players who are still productive and you anticipate wanting to keep around anyway. Less so for players at/near the end for whom you will incur big dead cap hits just to release in a year or two. Specifically...

Tillman: He's entering the final year of his current deal and is coming off of two straight pro bowls and a near DPOY performance. He keeps himself in tip top physical shape. No reason why he can't be productive another 2-3 years, maybe even more even if he makes a transition to S like Woodson did. He should be extended 2 more years on a 3 year deal.

Jennings: He's younger but has only one pro bowl season to his credit but made impressive improvements to his game last year. Also entering his last contract year. A similar arrangement to Peanut's seems reasonable to me.

Marshall: As Windy said, all his current money is NON-GUARANTEED so he ought to be tempted to sign an extension for 2-3 years (totalling 4-5) which offers him security. He's been a 1200+ yard receiver for years now, has apparently slain his prior behavioral demons, and shows no signs of falling off a cliff. He turns only 29 later this month.

Cutler: He'd be a great candidate to lock up for another 3 (4 total years) in tandem with Marshall "on the cheap" right now relatively compared to what we could be dealing with a year from now if Trestman is the QB/offensive guru he was hired to be. It's not like we have another younger QB waiting in the wings a la Steve Young who's soon to ready to start. Management and the Coaching Staff would have to make that commitment to him though as the "franchise QB of the foreseeable future". There's the rub.

Peppers: This is the one that's the most dicey I agree. He's already re-structured once and at age 33 you'd have to question doing it again since he's already under contract for 3 more years. He's not likely to be on the roster past that so this is the deal that makes the least sense long-term. It comes down to how much dead cap you are willing to risk later on to free space now. My guess is Pep's current deal is one we should "pay the Piper" on this year and leave alone.

**soulman** · 03-06-2013, 01:15 AM

The only rationale I can find for restructuring Pep's deal is based on the assumption that he can give us two more productive seasons AND because his cap hit is a back breaker at a time when we need some breathing space cap wise.

If you take $11 mil out of his salary now it really changes the complexion of things as far as getting our own guys under contract and freeing up some space for the pursuit of at least one or two UFAs. Based on what I can see we need that space.

So we kick the can down the road a year. If as expected McClellin's number of snaps increases and Pep gets fewer we can ask him for a salary reduction next year and reduce is cap costs that way. If he declines and his productivity doesn't justify his expense we can release him then and it's a break even. His 2014 salary and his "dead cap space" are roughly equal.

If we can carry him through 2014 even at his full cost then in 2015 we have that same option and instead of a break even we gain a little less than $10 mil of cap space if we release him. Given these factors I really don't see how we're hurting ourselves. Writers will write what they do and we react to what we read but when you sit down and takes a pencil to it then it's not the horror story it's been painted to be.

Let's face it. We have one or two more years at best to keep this defense largely intact and challenge for a SB win. By 2015 every single top vet on that defense over the age of 30 will need to be replaced. Urlacher, Briggs, Pep, Izzy and Tillman will all be going or gone. So if moving money back into years when we can better afford it seems like trying to buy a SB now well then so be it.

I think there's a good chance that we can challenge at that level this year and next if Trestman can get that offense moving in the right direction and whatever we can do that allows us to continue restocking with younger talent and filling glaring holes now needs to be considered. The future for this team is now not in 2015 and after. That will take care of itself when it's time has come. The cap costs of most of these vets will be off the books or coming off and we'll be a younger team then but now is now and now is when we need to fix some problems and compete for a title.

**GermansbombedPH** · 03-06-2013, 03:04 AM

Work out something with Melton that lowers his Cap Hit for next year and gets up following that would be perfect. After next season, Peppers can get cut

**Henry Burris** · 03-06-2013, 02:16 PM

You guys might need to start counting out Hester as one to cut to save some money. From his side, at least, it sounds like he's staying. If you don't like it, I really don't care.

EDIT: Not provoking a fight, just letting everyone know beforehand that although I'm a big Hester supporter, I'm not one to direct complaints to.

EDIT 2: Looks like D.J. Moore will be saving them a little money.

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