The Chicago Bears made a splash trading star pass rusher Khalil Mack to the Los Angeles Chargers for a 2022 second-round pick and 2023 sixth-round selection.
While the draft compensation was surprising to most, it’s the impact Mack’s trade has on Chicago’s salary cap that might be an indication as to why they only got a second-rounder and sixth-rounder.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Chargers are taking on the three remaining years of Mack’s contract, which totals $63.9 million. Chicago gets $6 million in cap savings for the 2022 season. Unfortunately, the Bears will still have to eat $24 million in dead money this year.
With that said, the Mack trade provides a more favorable salary cap outlook in 2023 and beyond. According to OverTheCap, the trade clears $28.5 million in salary cap space in 2023, which is huge. It also explains why the return for Mack was so low.
If the #Bears trade Mack without touching the deal again its $24M dead which will increase their cap space by $6.15 million this year. More importantly it clears out $28.5M that would be on the books in 2023.
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) March 10, 2022
Mack’s cap hit with the Bears was slated to be $30.2 million in 2022, $28.5 million in 2023 and $26.3 million in 2024. With the Chargers taking on the entirety of his contract, it frees up plenty of cap space in 2023 and beyond as Poles looks to build his roster around quarterback Justin Fields.
Looking ahead to the 2023 season, the Bears get an additional $28.5 million in cap space, which moves their 2023 cap from $92.9 million to roughly $121 million for the 2023 season, per OverTheCap. Granted, there are only 18 players currently under contract in 2023. Still, it allows Poles the freedom to build his roster moving forward.
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