Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles spent big in 2025 NFL free agency. He was armed with the fifth-most salary cap space in the league, and he used it to acquire three new starting offensive linemen, a 10-year stud defensive tackle, and an edge rusher with untapped upside.
And even in the NFL, money doesn’t go on trees.
The Bears’ salary cap standing among all 32 teams has dropped. Significantly.
Chicago now has $16 million in current salary cap space, per Over The Cap. That’s more than only five teams: Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Atlanta Falcons.
Yep, the Bears went from ranking in the top five of cap space to now residing near the bottom five.
In most years, that would feel like a dangerous and slippery slope for Poles to travel. But the 2025 offseason required an aggressive investment in the offensive line. Chicago opted for the trade route to land Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, two established veteran studs whose contracts match their resumes. They targeted and signed Drew Dalman, the most sought-after center in free agency, too.
As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.
The Chicago Bears are hoping they paid for an offensive line upgrade that will keep quarterback Caleb Williams upright and sacked much less than the league-high 68 times he hit the dirt in 2024. Assuming the revamped interior does its job, Williams should be among the top candidates in the NFL to be a breakout player in 2025, which will make this year’s free agency cycle go down as one of the best in recent team history.
Here’s the other thing: the salary cap is inexact. It changes all the time (and it only goes up). Teams with limited cap space tend to miraculously have spending power a year from now. And assuming Ryan Poles and his front office structured this new bundle of contracts in a way that won’t hamstring the team in 2026, it’ll be a job well done.
But, like anything else, the Chicago Bears’ decision to spend big in 2025 will only be deemed worth it if they win games, which, unfortunately has become a ‘believe it when you see it’ proposition as of late.