Chicago Bears: Restructure Contract of 30-Year-Old Starter

Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards faces a make-or-break 2026 season as he could be released this offseason if things do not go according to plan. Edwards is coming off an underwhelming 2025 campaign, during which he battled a hamstring injury that he later aggravated, along with a broken hand and a fractured fibula, which was sustained in the Wild Card Round, limiting him to a career-low 11 games. In addition, he missed the first week and a half of training camp with a minor calf injury but participated in the last month.

Edwards technically enters the first year of his two-year, $20 million contract. He is scheduled to earn a fully guaranteed $8.25 million base salary and $8.5 million in cash while carrying a $10.833 million cap hit in 2026, per Over The Cap .

The Chicago Bears restructure the contract of a 30-year-old starter

According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Bears have restructured T.J. Edwards' contract. Per Spotrac, the front office converted $6.95 million of Edwards' base salary into a signing bonus, freeing up $3,475,000 in cap space. As a result, his base salary drops to the league minimum of $1.3 million, while his cap hit dips to $7,358,333. Additionally, the $6.95 million prorated signing bonus will be spread evenly over two years at $3,475,000 per year, increasing his 2027 dead cap to $5,808,334.

Because Edwards' contract was restructured, he may not be released next offseason, as the dead cap increased. However, a standard release would save $8.5 million in cap space, which is still a sizeable amount.