The Chicago Bears spent the eighth-most salary cap dollars this offseason, per Spotrac, setting themselves on a course for a significant reckoning next offseason.
General manager Ryan Poles has drawn praise for his conviction and ability to remake the Bears’ roster over the past two offseasons. His real test could come next offseason, when the true bill for the Bears’ splurges in free agency comes due.
Bears’ Offseason Grade Points Out Major Reckoning on Horizon
Ryan Poles Paid Hefty Price for 2025
After a modest delve into free agency in 2024, spending less than all but 11 other teams, Poles and the Bears ranked eighth in free agency spending in 2025. ESPN’s Seth Walder gave the Bears a “B-” for their 2025 offseason exploits in an article published on July 10.
Walder praised moves such as acquiring three new interior offensive linemen, but questioned contract decisions on several players. The concern is the Bears’ lack of cap space in 2026.
Notably, many of the Bears’ newcomers’ deals align with Caleb Williams’ rookie contract.
The Bears are on track to be $4.6 million over the salary cap threshold next spring, per Over The Cap. They are one of nine teams to have that distinction. Three of those teams made the playoffs in 2024, including the Super Bowl runner-up Kansas City Chiefs.
Manipulation of the salary cap is commonplace in the NFL, and the Bears can free up some money next offseason via various methods, particularly if some players do not pan out.
The plan is for most of their moves to pan out, though.
Bears-Vikings Make for Fitting ‘Monday Night Football’ Opener
Those three teams also happen to be the most in the red, and one – the Minnesota Vikings – stands out from them all.
The Bears will host the Vikings on Monday Night Football to open the 2025 regular season.
Like the Bears, the Vikings have a lot of money invested in their roster, needing a young QB (J.J. McCarthy) on a rookie contract to tie it all together. Moreover, with their looming financial crunch, both teams need their young passers to prove it this season. That would make future planning much easier.
The Vikings are working largely off projections, with McCarthy missing his rookie season after suffering a torn meniscus during the 2024 preseason opener.
Like McCarthy, Williams started all 17 games after going unopposed last summer.
Williams took the most sacks in the league (68), but also led the team into winning situations only for letdowns elsewhere, and set numerous franchise and even NFL records. That is where Walder’s “biggest” move for the Bears, hiring Ben Johnson to be their head coach, comes in.
Ben Johnson Called Bears’ ‘Biggest’ Offseason Move
Walder pointed to Johnson’s three years of experience as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator, maximizing the talent on the roster.
Bears players have cited the level of attention to detail the new staff has brought in.
The true tests lie not during the offseason program, training camp, or even the preseason, though the latter will be the first quiz, as it were. Johnson and the Bears will have to prove themselves during the regular season.
Johnson acknowledged at the end of the offseason program that the Bears were not ready for prime time.
He also expressed confidence that they will be once it is time to take the field.