Bears Pick Up $11M Of Cap Room By Reworking Khalil Mack’s Contract

Field Yates reports that the Bears have created $11 million of cap space by converting $13 million of Khalil Mack‘s base salary and roster bonus into a signing bonus.

The Bears have been in a tough cap situation this offseason, but this will certainly give them some room to work with.

The downside of the contract restructuring is that it pushes money that counts against the cap back into the coming years. Either way, it will be interesting to see what they do with the money, as teams typically won’t go to this length unless there’s a deal in mind.

Mack, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Raiders back in 2014. Mack played out the final year of his four-year, $18,677,002, but the Raiders picked up his fifth-year option.

The Raiders later traded Mack to the Bears coming out of the preseason in a deal that included two first-round picks and Mack signed a six-year, $141 million extension that includes $90 million guaranteed with Chicago.

In 2018, Mack appeared in 14 games for the Bears and recorded 47 tackles, 12.5 sacks, an interception returned for a touchdown, six forced fumbles, two recoveries and four pass defenses.