Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Bears release linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — what's next? (Hour 1)
06 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: Why did the Bears release linebacker Tremaine Edmunds?
This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids. Rahimi Harrison-Grody, 10-2 on 104.3 The Score.
Adam Schefter reporting that DJ Moore is being traded to the Buffalo Bills. That will be activated when the league year begins on March 11th. What? I feel like this goes back to what Ryan Poles alluded to at the Combine, Mark. And he did it again at the season-ending press conference prior to that. We were suspicious of this.
Our ears perked when we heard him talk about tough decisions that he had to make. Now we find out what those decisions were.
I don't think you're good at making tough decisions.
You don't leave the door open the way Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson to a lesser degree did on the final day at Hallis Hall. This is a perfect destination for him and Josh Allen.
On the fake Williams looking down
Does that please you?
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Chapter 2: What impact does Tremaine Edmunds' release have on the Bears' salary cap?
I mean, does that surprise you?
It doesn't please me, but it's good to see. Good to hear him out there doing that, and that means he's doing great.
How gratifying is it when you win that battle and get the football thrown to you? What? Did you need a game like that? Did I need a game? Yeah. For what? Just in terms of all of us talking about the lack of targets that you've had relative to past years. I mean, if you say so. Will it shut y'all up? Perhaps. It ain't going to shut y'all up.
This season was special for the 2025 Bears because we're IP Virginia, but we went out there and made some moments this year, and they were special moments, and we can't look forward to...
Chapter 3: Did the Bears consider trading DJ Moore during the last season?
causing havoc to the league next year.
That was a really good bear. That's the category.
He wasn't great with the bears, but he was a really good Chicago bear.
You can say that again, DJ. Great tribute, Tyler Buterbaugh. Nicely done. One day, almost 24 hours after the news broke on our show about DJ Moore. That was about 1045. This is Rahimi Harrison-Brody on 104.3 The Score. We thank you for joining us on this Friday.
He can't shut me up, DJ Moore. No, we're going to be flapping gums for another four hours today. And you just never know what is going to happen in this wild week on Rahimi Harris and Grody as we sit in studio in downtown Chicago with the darkness covering downtown Chicago right now. It is, my goodness, it got bad quickly, but I like it.
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Chapter 4: What did the Bears receive in exchange for DJ Moore?
I like it when it's dark, when we can't be outside playing. So this is perfect.
Yeah, these are dark skies. Just stay dry out there, my friends.
Yes.
When it comes to the Bears, not only did we get the news yesterday about DJ Moore, but on top of it was news about Tremaine Edmonds, which I think a lot of us expected to happen. Tremaine Edmonds gets released. We understand that is a $15 million savings in salary cap money for the Bears. And I think what we have now is a defined direction
When we saw players that we thought might get traded, DJ was on our minds. We've thought about it. It was something that we thought could happen from a roster standpoint when it came to where the Bears had a lot of depth, quality depth at that. Would the fact that he was the highest paid player, a $28.5 million cap hit, Bills had to pick up $24.5 million of his salary.
Would that cause the Bears to have to do something different? The only thing I think that we ask that we won't get an answer to is how much did they have to pivot from their original plan?
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Chapter 5: How does DJ Moore's trade affect the Bears' roster strategy?
Because we don't know the original plan. When Drew Dallman's retirement became a possibility for them and became... It's not officially official, but when that... That's out there. You know, we've talked about it. So when Drew Dallman now is somebody you have to replace and... You know that you spent a lot of money last year on the pass rush, and that's something you have to improve.
And you still need a left tackle. I think it's safe to say, who's next? Could they make another move where somebody we expect to see on this team may no longer be here?
Yeah, I mean, there's no reason for us to sit here and say, no, we're not going to see more action even today just because of what's been going on and the names that have been thrown out there. We know that the vulnerable Bears players on the roster right now, like if you want to go through the list, you just talked about Tremaine Edmonds. There is Cole Komet. There is DeAndre Swift. Right.
They might be done clearing cap space, but those are the guys that you would look to still if they were to make more moves. There is the possibility still of restructuring.
Chapter 6: What are the potential next moves for the Bears after these trades?
The only restructuring candidates that I jotted down, and this was from the Kevin Fishbane article who laid it all out really nicely and digestible for everybody. The only thing that's left on the board because so much has changed since then was would be a Joe Tooney, Jonah Jackson restructuring, which would create another $14 million in cap space.
But you certainly can't depend on that from those players if they don't want to accept that, especially Tooney at this point.
Well, yeah, that would be the second year in a row that Tooney had had some sort of extension slash restructure. So that would probably be significant. But I think it's safe to say now that... The two players who I wondered about whether or not they were going to be here despite their production are no longer Bears, plus the sudden retirement of Drew Dallman.
I think it's safe to say that nobody's safe.
Nobody is safe. And the good news is – and boy, has this – have we talked about the – this might be the most I remember ever discussing the salary cap in a Bears offseason. It's always pertinent. It's always something worth keeping an eye on. But we're all counting together right now. And with the moves that the Bears have made –
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Chapter 7: Who are the vulnerable players on the Bears' roster now?
They are up to around $44 million in cap space right now. And with the latest being, and you mentioned him, Tremaine Edmonds, that created right there, and we've been talking about it all along, creates $15 million, or created now $15 million in cap space. And I look at Tremaine Edmonds' career with the Bears, I say it as steady, if not spectacular. Perfect.
You probably wanted more out of Tremaine Edmonds in the four-year $72 million contract, especially because he replaced, essentially, an incredibly popular and productive player in Roquan Smith. He had his best year for the Bears this past year, even though he played in his fewest games last year, 12 or 13 games relative to the 14 to 17 that he had played previously. in the previous years.
So he will be missed, but he is replaceable. I think it's the same thing with DJ Moore. He will be missed, but he is replaceable. And we'll get into that topic a little bit later on. But these are tough moves. But when you get past the initial hit, the initial jarring of these guys, you're like, okay, it all makes sense. But As you open the show, Layla, now what?
Chapter 8: What are the implications of these moves for the Bears' future?
What are you going to do with that money? What is your priority? We know the positions that have to be filled. And I don't even think you even mentioned the fact that the safety portion of this now comes back into view a little bit. Honestly, Layla, I had put Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker out of my mind. I thought that they were going to have to go a cheaper route with that position, period.
But now I think you can look at those two guys. I still think you have to choose one between Kevin Bayard, who's probably going to command between $8 and $10 million per year, while Brisker could be getting something similar. I saw three years and $30 million for him, but that puts everything back in play in the linebacker position as well.
Well, and not just that, Mark, but we now are in a space where we are seeing what Ryan Poles does when he has to make cap space work with his guys. You know, we didn't have Ryan Poles doing this earlier in his time with the Bears. He was, whether or not you want to admit it, trying to take. He didn't want to call it a rebuild, but it was a rebuild.
Byron Pringle.
Nikhil Harry. We'll do it again today if we want. There were many. Nate Davis. So the point is...
Lucas Patrick.
Exactly.
Should we stop now?
No. No, keep it going.
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