Chicago Bears: Restructure Contract of Motivated Pass Rusher for 2026

Chicago Bears $48 million pass rusher Dayo Odeyingbo faces a pivotal second season in Chicago and could be released next February or March if things do not pan out. Odeyingbo's 2025 campaign was cut short after suffering a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 9. He finished with 21 tackles, two tackles for loss, ten pressures , four quarterback hits, and one sack across eight games, eight starts, and accounted for 369 defensive snaps. The pass rush as a whole finished in the bottom half in pressures, hits, and sacks, per Pro Football Reference.

Odeyingbo enters the second year of his deal and is scheduled to earn a fully guaranteed $15.5 million base salary and $16 million in cash while carrying a $20.5 million cap hit. The Bears are currently over the cap and must be salary-cap compliant by Week 1.

The Chicago Bears restructured the contract of a motivated pass rusher for 2026

According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Bears restructured Dayo Odeyingbo's contract. Per Spotrac , the front office converted $14.285 million of Odeyingbo's base salary into a signing bonus, freeing up $7,142,500 in cap space. As a result, his base salary drops to the league minimum of $1.215 million, while his cap hit drops to $13,357,500 for 2026. Additionally, the $14.285 million prorated signing bonus will be spread evenly over two years at $7,142,500 per year, increasing his 2027 dead cap to $11,642,500.

The Bears are now salary-cap compliant. Also, because Odeyingbo's contract was restructured, he may not be released next offseason, as the dead cap increased by $7,142,500. However, a standard release would save $15 million in cap space, which would not make it impossible to do so.