At the outset of the offseason, the Bears had a long list of personnel needs and around $47 million to spend. One of the biggest challenges facing general manager Ryan Pace when he took over the team was navigating the salary cap.



The league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is 301 pages of byzantine rules and legalese. Multiple articles, over 50 pages worth, are purely dedicated to the calculation and enforcement of league salary cap rules and how they apply to different classes of players. It’s medicative reading for insomniacs.



Through two offseasons, Pace has proved to be a quick study on the job.



Figures shown in millions



In both player acquisition periods, the Bears have had flexibility to make moves, yet have resisted the urge to fix all their needs through free agency. Teams who try to pay their way out of years of poor drafting typically incur bigger headaches down the road and compound their...