BREAKING: Bears clear $8.85 million in cap space, indicating a possible major move.

The Chicago Bears‘ four-year, $110 million contract extension with star wide receiver DJ Moore freed up significant cap space for the 2024 season, indicating potential for future roster moves.

According to Over the Cap’s contract details, the Bears reduced Moore’s 2024 cap hit from $16.05 million to just $7.2 million for the 2024 season, backloading his contract and clearing $8.85 million in cap space to give themselves roughly $21 million total.

The Bears must still use some of their salary space to cover in-season expenses, including as the 52nd and 53rd contracts on their 53-man roster and practice squad. At the same time, they gain from having roughly $9 million more in cap space coming into the season, especially if they choose to add another significant player to their squad before September.

Could Bears Use Space to Trade for Matthew Judon?

The Bears now have greater spending room to address one of the vulnerabilities on their 90-man roster. They could seek into more interior offensive line help with right guard Nate Davis currently working back from a “strain” ailment. They could also try to bolster their defensive line, particularly on the edge, where little additions were made in 2024.

How about a potential trade for New England Patriots star Matthew Judon?

Judon returned to practice for the Patriots on August 1 after sitting out a few sessions and has been a full participant with the team since then; though, the four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher has been vocal about his desire to sign a new contract with the team. He is scheduled to earn a $6.5 million base salary in 2024 and has said he will play even without a new deal in place, but he also believes his reputation has earned him more.

While Judon missed 13 games in 2023 due to a torn bicep, he had 43.5 sacks and 107 quarterback hits throughout his previous four seasons (2019-2022), earning Pro Bowl selection in each of them. He also recorded four sacks in the four games he played in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury.

The Bears could use someone of Judon’s caliber lining up opposite star Montez Sweat on their defensive line, but trading for him is a twofold problem. Not only would they need to give up significant draft capital — likely a third-round pick or more — but they would also need to pay the soon-to-be 32-year-old to make the exchange worth it.

That’s a tough ask even with roughly $39.3 million in cap space for the 2025 season.

Bears Might Be Thinking Ahead With DJ Moore Deal

Another option for the Bears is to re-sign 2023 starting defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the roster in the coming weeks. The 29-year-old had only four sacks in 13 games for the Bears in 2023 and had his season cut short when he injured his ankle in December, but Ngakoue showed indications of progress after the Bears signed Sweat. He also has 69 career sacks over nine seasons, something the Bears could need.

However, the Bears may not have considered the immediate future when structuring Moore’s deal to provide cap relief. Instead, Bears general manager Ryan Poles may be thinking ahead to the NFL trade deadline on November 5, 2024.

Poles has made deals at the trade deadline in each of his previous two seasons as the team’s general manager. He traded away both linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive end Robert Quinn and added wide receiver Chase Claypool in 2022, then acquired Sweat from the Washington Commanders for a second-round pick in 2023.

While the Claypool deal proved to be a resounding mistake, Poles hit on the deal for Sweat and locked him down for the long-term future with a four-year, $98 million contract extension shortly after Sweat arrived in Chicago. He may not feel as much pressure to deal again at the deadline now that the Bears’ roster is much improved, but he does have an extra second-rounder in his pocket via his 2023 trade with Carolina.

If Poles decides to utilize that second-round pick to acquire another heavy hitter at the deadline, he will most certainly require the extra cap space.

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