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Carmen and Spiegel clash: Why the Bears Invest in the offense vs. a top pass rusher
The Bears have a decision to make: Invest in a top-tier center or a top-tier pass rusher. Matt Spiegel and Carmen Vitali debate the topic on the show.
The Chicago Bears are releasing a starting linebacker after trying to find a trade partner.
According to reports, the Bears are releasing Tremaine Edmunds before free agency starts next week.
By the numbers:
ESPN reported Thursday evening that the Bears are releasing Edmunds. Last week at the NFL Combine, his agent told FOX 32 the Bears gave Edmunds permission to seek a trade.
In releasing Edmunds, the Bears will save $15 million in cap space that the team can use to sign free agents when the new league year begins.
The Bears tried to find a trade partner for Edmunds, but now give him a chance to find a team before the new league year begins.
Edmunds will be a free agent at 28 years old, even after playing in the league for eight years. He's started all 45 games he's played for the Bears, recording 335 total tackles and nine interceptions.
Before Chicago, he played five years in Buffalo before signing with the Bears, and recorded just five interceptions.
This comes after the Bears traded wide receiver DJ Moore in a move that clears a massive amount of cap space. Moore's cap hit was $28 million, while Edmunds was just $17 million.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles talked about the difficult decisions the Bears would need to make needing to get under the salary cap. On Thursday, it was Moore first. Now, it's Edmunds.
"We have a lot of talented players, a lot of guys getting paid well, and that puts some constraints on the cap," Bears general manager Ryan Poles said in Indianapolis last week. "We gotta make some tough decisions and, like I said, when we win games you create these relationships. There's leadership guys or guys that are captains that mean a lot to our organization."
What's next:
Although the Bears didn't find a trade partner for Edmunds, they'll still field some calls for specific players.
At the NFL Combine, Poles said he had gotten calls about specific players on the roster – quarterback Tyson Bagent being one of those players – meaning there could be deals for the Bears in the near future if they like the price.
"There's a lot more calls coming in with interest on some of these guys," Poles said. "We have to kind of sequence that out to see how it impacts our team."