Chicago Bears playmaker could be among first cap casualties

Few moves would create more spending flexibility than moving on from veteran linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

Edmunds is coming off a stellar season, producing 61 tackles, one sack, and tying a career high with four interceptions.

However, as The Athletic points out the Bears would create a whopping $15 million in cap space by releasing Edmunds, while absorbing a $2.437 million dead-money charge.

As Kevin Fishbain argues, this might not be a decision based purely on dollars on a spreadsheet, given Edmunds’ broader impact on the defense.

“Before his groin injury,” Fishbain writes of Edmunds, for The Athletic. “He was playing at a Pro Bowl level, but we didn’t see the impact plays as often when he returned. Did the play of special teamer D’Marco Jackson help make Edmunds expendable? What was a more important position in former linebacker Matt Eberflus’ defense might not carry the same weight, especially with Edmunds’ cap hit.

“Whenever deciding to move on from a starter, especially someone like Edmunds, who’s only 27, well-regarded in the building and still a productive player, there also needs to be a replacement plan. If Edmunds is cut, how do the Bears avoid too much of a drop-off at the position? How does T.J. Edwards’ end-of-season ankle injury factor in any decisions? The math may be too simple to keep Edmunds at that number.”

It’s difficult to envision how Poles views the calculous of being able to spread $15 million across multiple positions or signings against Emunds’ impact, especially if he is less than fully healthy by the time the new league year begins nex month.

Regardless, though, few players would create more spending flexibility than cutting Edmunds, so everything needs to be considered. Perhaps, moving off Edmunds is part of a broader strategy to prioritize taking a linebacker early in the NFL Draft or identifying a more affordable player at the position, with upside, ahead of the legal tampering period beginning.

Edmunds’ contract, though, puts him under the microscope as this offseason gets underway.