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The Chicago Bears are being projected to make a $3.1 million move to clear up more cap space and perhaps bring on bigger players.<\/p>\n
Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears<\/a> are putting together the roster of their dreams<\/a> for the 2026-27 season, and they\u2019ll stop at nothing to get big-named players to Chicago.<\/p>\n In order to get to the Super Bowl, though, the Bears have to craft a winning lineup, and that means clearing out some cap space to land big-named players, such as Maxx Crosby<\/a> of the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> or anyone else they see fit.<\/p>\n Now, one NFL<\/a> analyst believes the Bears can make a true value move during the 2026 NFL free agency period and help with their cap space issue. The franchise is currently $11 million over the cap, according to research from Spotrac<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chicago Bears Could Make Smart Move to Keep Their Budget in Check in 2026<\/p>\n Following the Bears being eliminated from the Super Bowl in 2026, Johnson stayed calm about it. \u201cWe\u2019re one of the 31 other teams that fell short,\u201d he said, according to<\/a> the Bears\u2019 official website. \u201cIf anything, that just rejuvenates me and makes me want to push harder and longer than what we did this past season.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cIn regards to last season, I really appreciate our guys. They came in in the springtime and they dedicated a large amount of trust to what we were doing. Buy in, work ethic, they sacrificed a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson added that all of that sacrifice is \u201cwhat gave us a chance there at the end. We won games, put ourselves in a good position, but ultimately we came up short and so our guys are going to learn from this.\u201d<\/p>\n In a Friday, March 6, feature for Fox Sports<\/a>, Greg Auman, Ben Arthur, Henry McKenna, Eric Williams and Ralph Vacchiano lay out a handful of smart moves for the NFL franchises going into free agency.<\/p>\n For the Bears, they suggest a smart, and cheap, move. They suggest to sign defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga. According to a report from Spotrac<\/a>, Tonga\u2019s market value is estimated to be $3.1 million annually in 2026 free agency.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Patriots<\/a> quietly unlocked a side to Tonga that few knew existed,\u201d they note in the feature. \u201cAnd it\u2019s something that a team like the Bears should try to build upon.\u201d<\/p>\n They add<\/a>, \u201cTonga is a mammoth interior disruptor who should come at a discount relative to someone who played as well as he did in 2025. And that\u2019s what the Bears need: a value signing.\u201d<\/p>\n So, Tonga isn\u2019t as fun or flashy a name as others, but if the shoe fits, it fits.<\/p>\n Ben Johnson Was Nostalgic at the End of the 2025-26 Chicago Bears Season<\/p>\n After the Bears\u2019 exceptional 2025-26 season, where they ended No. 1 in the NFC North, Johnson spoke about how proud he was of the team and coaching staff.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say enough good things about this particular group of coaches, of players, of support staff,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought they were special, and I said that at the end of the year. They believe that and I\u2019ll forever be grateful for what they were able to do this season.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cBut we\u2019re one of the 31 other teams that fell short. If anything, that just rejuvenates me and makes me want to push harder and longer than what we did this past season. I\u2019m already looking ahead to 2026 myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAnne Erickson<\/strong><\/a> is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bears\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Chicago Bears are being projected to make a $3.1 million move to clear up more cap…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":637779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-637778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116185753580411608","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}