Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Explaining the Bears conservative free agent moves | Take The North
21 Mar 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Dan, how are you seeing things right now for what the Bears might be able to still do in this offseason, if anything, of serious consequence? Look, the conversation is layered, and it goes back to kind of what we've forecasted all along. And really, Ryan Poles forecasted it coming out of the season where they understood the constraints that they were facing.
Salary cap in particular puts them in a position where I think as of Thursday morning, OverTheCap.com had the Bears with like $493,000 of current cap space, and that's before ā they have to go out and sign the draft class that they're going to put together in April, right?
And so you're going to have to make moves regardless to free up cap space just to keep the players you currently have on your roster. At some point, there's going to need to be a restructure or some movement of some sort that allows you to create the cap space needed just to be functional.
And so they're going to have to have some space available for them during the season so that they can make moves when emergencies arise in that regard. So look, they don't have a lot ā of wiggle room to play with right now. I know that social media was a buzz last week when Adam Schefter in a back and forth on ESPN said that the bears are broke. This is what he was talking about.
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Chapter 2: Why have the Bears been conservative in free agency?
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I can't sleep without sounds like that, Dan. I'm glad you identified that as a speeding car and that it wasn't a cat accident in your residence.
No, I put the cat away. The cat is sleeping in the closet right now. Don't worry.
Yeah, so anyway, your window should be open for several years. And if you really believe in Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams and the pairing of them, your goal is to plan for a very bright future for many, many years. And that planning can sometimes feel... a little bit restrictive in the present, which it is right now, I think.
And that's why we're getting some of the reaction we're getting from fans, I think. They just want more, and they want more quickly. And the instant gratification wants you to put together an undisputably championship roster now. But I'd remind people, as we did when the season ended, the Bears were like 14th The day after the Super Bowl in odds to win next year's Super Bowl. Right.
Like it's not like they were one of the top five teams on that list. And it's like you better go now or you're never going to go. You know, so just understand your place. And I think honestly, I think that Ryan Poles has done a good job this offseason of of being disciplined and practical in the ways that he needs to be.
Yeah, and I mean, again, as I said, I think on our last podcast, and you just mentioned it, we need to mention that Caleb and Ben Johnson part every single time. I don't want the Bears to have to depend too much on Caleb Williams to make this season right, to fix the holes that they've made.
might have this year but this might be a year in which they are doing that and I do understand the angst from Bears fans when there's an 11 win season and you and I have talked about it tons of times there's been too many times that Yeah, the years where we see these pop up seasons where it's a great season and it's a one off and then it goes right back down to the bottom. I do fear that.
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Chapter 3: What salary cap constraints are impacting the Bears' moves?
And I think Bears fans, there's a little bit of Bears fan trauma that goes along that. And reasonable reporters like us should have a little bit of that trauma as well.
Understandable fear, understandable trauma, right? Like justifiable with all those. What I would say is it's possible that the Bears take a small step back in 2026 without ruining their chance at sustained success. If they were to go 9-8 and miss the playoffs this year, but you started to feel like the momentum was still building in the right direction, they just didn't get all the same results.
Breaks they got in 2025. I don't think you would have to hit the panic button and be like, oh, my God, you know, the pop up season and they fell off. I think it would be like, OK, let's let's see it with our own eyes and see what it looks like. And hopefully you get the progress in the areas that you need the progress.
The other thing that is important to note here is like this idea that the Bears haven't been aggressive enough. Well, they were aggressive last offseason. And it's why Joe Tooney will carry a $21.5 million cap hit for 2026. It's why Jonah Jackson will have a $19.5 million cap hit for 2026.
It's because you went out and you aggressively overhauled your offensive line in a way that made you more competitive more quickly than most people thought.
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Chapter 4: How is the Bears' current roster affecting their free agency strategy?
And you're just not, in a salary cap sport, able to do that every single year. The other thing you mentioned just a couple minutes ago ā ROI. Big TTN acronym here, right? Return on investment. Well, let me read you the six players that the Bears have on defense that have cap hits north of $10 million for this season.
And then I'll read you the list of draft picks that they've taken on day one or day two of the draft in the Ryan Poles era. So we'll start with the cap hits. Montez Sweat, still your highest paid defensive player, $25 million cap hit. Jalen Johnson, $24.5 million cap hit this year. Daiwa Dangbo, $20.5 million cap hit. Capit this year, return on investment.
Those players are going to need to produce dividends on what you're investing. Lower than that, Grady Jarrett, $18.925 million capit, needs to produce. Kyler Gordon, $12.9 million capit, needs to stay healthy, needs to produce. T.J. Edwards, $10.8 million capit, needs to get healthy, needs to produce. These are examples of
trades signings re-signings extensions that the bears were aggressive with six names there of guys that are going to be in your your starting depth chart that have to produce that's the path to becoming a more regular championship contender and now really quick the names of people that they've taken in the first two rounds or first two days of the draft in the ryan poles era jaquan brisker no longer here gordon repeat zach pickens no longer here tyreek stevenson
entering a very pivotal year here, along with Jervon Dexter, his mate from that 2023 draft class, and then Shamar Turner, who you've mentioned several times, is a guy that we don't know much about at this point, but was a second-round pick, and second-round picks ultimately have to be major starters for you at some point if they're to be deemed hits.
Yeah. I mean, let's see how they use him. It seemed like towards the end of the season, they were using him more as an edge. I should say more before he was injured. You know, Austin Booker still could be something. So to add them to Dio Dangbo and hopefully Montez Sweat continues as he did, came on strong towards the end of last year. But.
save for some sort of major restructuring of some of these contracts that you talked about, Joe Tooney, Jonah Jackson, and some splash that you and I are not foreseeing right now. As we said, I think weeks ago, you are hiring from within. We said at the end of the season, that is how the Bears are going to go in the next season.
You can't just year by year band-aid the picks, especially this early, into some of those signings.
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