The Chicago Bears should be very aggressive this offseason when it comes to upgrading their roster. General manager Ryan Poles has a ton of maneuverability with prime assets and a ton of money to spend.
The Bears currently have the most cap space in the NFL with over $98 million to spend. The team with the next most cap space, the Atlanta Falcons, have just under $56 million in cap space. Lapping the field, Chicago can throw their weight around in free agency should there be players they want with robust markets.
The extra cap space also makes the Bears a potential landing spot for veterans on bigger contracts that may be moved. There are a bunch of teams around the league that will have to trade or release players to become compliant with the salary cap, which the Bears could take advantage of.
One team that people will be keeping an eye on in that regard is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are in a weird spot given how far over the salary cap they are, currently more than $56.5 million. Without a bonafide starting quarterback on the roster, that is where a lot of their available funds will go toward.
Because of that, veterans such as Chris Godwin could be on the move this offseason. Godwin would be the perfect target for the Bears as they look to upgrade the weapons around Justin Fields this offseason.
Godwin rehabbed relentlessly during the 2022 offseason to ensure that he would be back in the lineup in Week 1 after tearing his ACL during the 2021 season. Unfortunately for him, things got off to a rocky start as he injured his hamstring. That ended up costing him two games, but he was able to stay on the field consistently after that.
The Penn State product ended the season with 104 receptions for 1,023 yards and three touchdowns. That is very impressive given the circumstances he faced entering the season. Adding a player of that caliber is exactly what Fields needs to help take his game to the next level.
Normally, rebuilding teams don’t trade away draft picks as they need them to rebuild the roster. But, if the Bears can pull off a trade centered around the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, they will be flush with assets. At that point, trading a few to acquire Godwin would be a home run plan.
