Thread: I know everybody wants a big Bears reset this offseason, but the truth is they're pretty limited in what they'll be able to do with their personnel. Currently projected with about $1.5M in cap room, and that's with only 34 players under contract.

Prominent free agents include

Allen Robinson
Roy Robertson-Harris
Mitchell Trubisky
Mario Edwards
Tashaun Gipson
Germain Ifedi

All their other key players are under contract for 2021.

Guys they could cut to save money include

Akiem Hicks ($10.5M)
Kyle Fuller ($11M)
Charles Leno ($6M)
Bobby Massie ($5.5M)
Buster Skrine ($3M)
Jimmy Graham ($7M)

That's the whole list. And anybody cut needs to be replaced, with very little $$ to spend.

Chicago could move money to the future by converting big salaries into bonuses, which we could see with Khalil Mack, Kyle Fuller, Robert Quinn, and/or Kyle Fuller. They could also look to give Hicks or Fuller extensions to lower 2020 cap hit.

Any of those moves are doubling down on overpaying an aging defense. Continuing to borrow from the future for a team that isn't winning in the here and now. That's not a good move, though it's probably the direction Pace will go in an effort to save his job if he's still the GM.

The reality is Bears have very little $$ to spend, their WR1 is a FA looking for a massive contract, and they need to upgrade QB, and add 2-3 new starters on OL, at a minimum. Then the usual rotational DL depth, safety opposite EJax, etc.

Foles is likely their starting QB for 2021. If they want a guy to groom behind him for a year, that's likely their 1st round pick. Might require trading up too.

That leaves a day 2 pick for OL. Or you could go OL in round 1, but then you're not getting the QB of the future.

and that's the dilemma: Bears can either trade the farm (likely 2021 1st and 3rd, 2022 1st) to get a QB, but then not be able to do much on the OL, or invest massively in the OL and then wait a year on a QB.

Neither is a particularly appealing option, but yet again they enter an offseason without the resources necessary to adequately address all the holes on the roster. This is what happens when you continually trade up and leave yourself short on draft capital year after year.

Pace seems to identify and aggressively revamp 1 position every offseason. 2018 was WR, 2019 RB, 2020 TE. Not very good results in 2 of those 3 despite massive investment, but if he's still the GM this offseason, you can expect OL will be the spot this year.

My approach would be to trade up for your QB, then spend a 2nd on OT. In FA, I'd cut one of the OT, let Allen Robinson walk, and try to sign the best OT on the market. That's 2 new starters. Then bring in multiple cheap veteran interior OL for depth and competition.

that doesn't completely fix the OL, but it's at least a good revamp, and you have a QB for the future. Without that, this entire upcoming offseason is a waste. Gives you one more offseason to continue addressing OL before the new QB takes over in 2022.

If you're looking for massive offensive improvement in 2021, the most realistic path to that is a new coach. Look at the 2014-15 defense. 2013/14 defenses were among the worst in the NFL, 2015 was about 20th with the same personnel but DC upgrade (Mel Tucker to Vic Fangio).