There is a breakdown of the top 15 salary-cap figures on the Bears’ roster for the 2007 season in the Sunday print/online edition.
It’s interesting to see how the pie was divided for the season and what the organization got for its money. The figures are not what the players earned in pay for the season, but the space they took up under the salary cap, which was at $109 million unadjusted. The good news moving forward for the Bears is they are in solid footing under the cap, a product of strong drafting on defense and careful work by contract negotiator Cliff Stein. In fact, the Bears have so much room it may be a question of cash on hand and the spending budget instead of the salary cap when it comes to getting major deals done.
General manager Jerry Angelo and the front office will put values on players. You typically have to overpay in free agency, but if the Bears opt to do a big deal—like signing Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs to a longterm contract—the room is there and then some. Briggs commanded the most cap space in ’07 by virtue of the franchise tag for $7.206 million.
