Here’s what the Bears salary cap looks like after trading for Keenan Allen

On Thursday night, the Bears shocked the NFL world by trading wide receiver Keenan Allen to the Chargers for a fourth-round draft pick. Later that evening, the team made the change public.

In addition to his 1,000-yard seasons and six Pro Bowl selections, Allen costs the Bears $23.1 million in salary space. After Montez Sweat, Allen has the second-highest cap hit on the Bears for the 2024 campaign.

According to Spotrac, the Bears now have $35 million in salary space after taking Allen’s contract into consideration. After the Commanders, Patriots, Titans, and Eagles, that is the fifth-most in the NFL.

However, this cap amount comes with a lot of disclaimers.

Not every free-agent deal held by the Bears has been reported. There are still unaccounted for free agent signings Coleman Shelton, Jake Curhan, Gerald Everett, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Matt Pryor, and Brett Rypien.

Bears’ Offseason Financial Overview: Dead Cap Impact and Free Agency Outlook

The Bears will also have four picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, two of which will be in the top 10. You would have to deduct $13 million from the cap in order to account for those rookies and the draft pool money for those picks. Just that would save up almost $22 million in cap space.

This offseason, the Bears also racked up $10 million in dead cap, primarily as a result of severing their links to veteran players Eddie Jackson and Cody Whittaker. Just the two of them are worth somewhat more than $9 million. They have roughly $12 million left over after the rookie pool and dead cap, which places them roughly 23rd in the NFL.

All of this means that Ryan Poles’s time in free agency is probably coming to an end. It is unrealistic to expect the Bears to sign a top-tier edge rusher. They could land one on a somewhat appealing deal, but nothing substantial. Recall that they can also utilize the first and ninth picks in the NFL draft.

Read more Chicago bears news at sportviewers.com