In the news that should surprise nobody department, Bears general manager Ryan Pace has announced that the Bears will cut Mike Glennon at the start of the new league year. Glennon signed a three year, $45 million contract last year which was largely considered one of the worst signings of 2017 before he even took the field. It was a contract that looked even worse when the Bears drafted Mitchell Trubisky just a short time later. Glennon started just four games before being pulled last season and carried a $14 million cap hit.

The Bears still owe Glennon $2.5 million in guaranteed salary which is why the move likely can’t take place until the start of the new league year. The Bears already carried over their remaining cap room in 2017 and any cut of Glennon before March 14 would require $2.5 million in 2017 cap space to be approved by the league. The Bears have an offset on that $2.5 million and I would imagine they gave him their blessing to approach other teams about a contract at the combine.  Due to that guarantee Glennon will likely be looking at a one year contract for the minimum ($790,000) similar to what Brock Osweiler signed for last season and maybe some incentives that can potentially skirt the offset rules. The Bears will get a credit for that on their salary cap in the 2019, not 2018, league year.

The release will create another $11.5 million in cap room for the Bears, which would put them over $61 million in cap space for free agency. The Bears have been one of the most active teams in the NFL during free agency but most of their signings have not panned out and there are likely millions more in cap dollars to be freed up by Chicago in the next two weeks, putting them in a position to go after some bigger name free agents than they have in the past.