Chicago Bears restructure 3 veteran contracts: Why this doesn't signal an impending trade
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The Chicago Bears are shuffling some money around.
According to ESPN, the Bears have restructured three of their biggest outstanding contracts. This frees up a decent amount of salary cap space, and gets the Bears out from being over the cap.
Here's what to know about the Bears restructuring three contracts, and if that means a potential trade is on the horizon.
What we know:
The Bears have restructured the contracts of three veteran players, according to ESPN's Field Yates: guard Joe Thuney, defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and linebacker TJ Edwards.
Edwards and Thuney signed extensions last offseason. Odeyingbo signed with the Bears in free agency in March 2025. Thuney and Odeyingbo had the third- and fourth-most expensive contracts on the Bears' books before these restructures took place.
With this move, Yates reported the Bears have created $17 million in 2026 salary cap space. Now, the Bears have $4,599,130 in open cap space, according to Spotrac.com's overview of the Chicago Bears cap space.
Before this, the Bears were about $12 million over the salary cap. Getting under gives the Bears some flexibility. It also gives way to potential rumors of a trade where the Bears acquire a key piece or pieces for their roster just before the 2026 season begins.
However, rumors are just rumors.
Big picture view:
Because the Bears opened about $5 million in cap space, this will initially make fans believe the Bears are setting themselves up for a big swing to acquire a player that might incur a bigger cap hit.
Don't be so hasty.
The NFL requires all 32 teams to be under the salary cap on two occasions: at the start of the new league year in March and at the start of the regular season in September. According to Over The Cap, every player on each active roster will count against the salary cap next week. From there, each team must remain under the hard salary cap ceiling every day of the regular season and playoffs.
This restructuring move doesn't mean a big move is on the horizon. It just means the Bears were doing what they need to in order to get back under the salary cap before the official start of the 2026 regular season.
While it's fine to dream about the arrival of Maxx Crosby or Josh Sweat, a swing like might not be on the Bears' minds. Instead, they've been adamant about developing the players they have in the building to start.
"We're always trying to get our process to be as perfect as it possibly can be and really focus on that more than the outcome," Bears general manager Ryan Poles said last Tuesday. "That's the goal, but if we can continue to develop players, we can continue to bring the right players in and this amazing coaching staff that we have can keep coaching these guys up, we'll put ourselves in a position to do that year in and year out."
The Source: Reporting on the Bears' restructuring is from ESPN's Field Yates. Observations on the restructurings are from FOX Chicago's Chris Kwiecinski.