Bears add more wiggle room after historic salary cap boost

If Bears fans weren't already excited about the 2023 offseason, now would be a great time to start tuning in.

The NFL increased its salary cap to a historic $224.8 million per club according to the NFL. It jumped to $208.2 million just last season. With the added 17th game, new media deals and other increased profits, the cap is expected to grow in future years.

The Bears will own a league-leading amount of about $98.6 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. The next highest team, the Atlanta Falcons, will have $56.4 million. Chicago worked through $93 million in dead cap last season as it still paid for the contracts of Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Nick Foles and Andy Dalton, among others.

The Bears continuously worked through the restructuring of several massive contracts during the Ryan Pace era. Now, they have all the cap space they could ask for to try and sign impactful free agents they need, should they provide the right sales pitch. Players like Washington Commanders tackle Daron Payne and Kansas City Chiefs receiver Juju Smith-Schuster could become free agents this season should their respective teams not resign them.

Payne said he "wanted what he earned" when asked if there was anything specific he wanted in his new contract, according to NBC Sports.

"You know what I want, man. It's self-explanatory," Payne said, later adding, "I just want what I earned."

The Bears also have the No. 1 overall pick and seven other picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. Chicago found diamonds in the rough last year with its rookie class. It was ranked the eighth most productive class in last year's draft by Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders and Alex Vigderman of Sports Info Solutions.

Should all go well, Chicago can make a serious push for their first appearance in the NFC divisional round since 2010.