The expected domino has fallen.
The Chicago Bears are releasing linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The move saves the Bears $15 million in salary cap space and ends Edmunds' three-season run in Chicago. He had no guaranteed money remaining on his contract.
The Bears granted Edmunds permission to seek a trade on February 25, but no team was willing to take on his $13.9 million base salary for 2026. With a $1 million roster bonus due on the fifth day of the league year and a total cap hit of $17.9 million, the writing was on the wall. The Bears will carry just $2.4 million in dead money from the release.
$44 Million Cleared in One Week
Edmunds' release caps off one of the busiest weeks of Ryan Poles' tenure as general manager—and that's saying something for a GM who has already overseen dramatic roster overhauls in each of his four offseasons. In the span of three days, the Bears have lost three starters and completely reshaped their cap picture:
Drew Dalman's surprise retirement on Wednesday removed the Pro Bowl center from a three-year, $42 million contract and opened up significant cap relief. Hours later, the Bears traded DJ Moore and a fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for a 2026 second-round pick, saving approximately $16.5 million. Now the Edmunds release adds another $15 million to the pile.
The total: approximately $44 million cleared in a single week, according to ESPN's Field Yates. A team that entered the offseason over the salary cap now sits with roughly $32 million in available space heading into the legal tampering period on Monday. That's 11th-most in the NFL.
What Edmunds Did in Chicago
Edmunds signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the Bears as a free agent in 2023—at the time, the largest four-year contract for an inside linebacker in NFL history. He was solid and dependable, but he was never the elite playmaker that kind of money suggests. In three seasons in Chicago, Edmunds averaged 112 tackles per season, picked off nine passes, forced two fumbles, recovered two more, and recorded two sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Those are serviceable numbers. They're not top-of-the-market numbers—and Edmunds was being paid like a top-of-the-market player.
His 2025 season was his most productive as a Bear, even with four games missed due to a groin injury suffered during Chicago's Week 11 win over the Vikings. He led the team with 112 tackles and added four interceptions, nine passes defensed, one sack, and a fumble recovery. Pro Football Focus graded him as solid against the run with an 81.1 mark—16th among linebackers, good but not great—and his overall grades across three seasons never put him among the league's upper tier at the position. He tallied 13 tackles in the Bears' two playoff games. By any reasonable measure, Edmunds was a dependable starter. He just wasn't a $17.9 million one.
For his career, the 27-year-old has started all 119 regular-season games he's appeared in, totaling 900 tackles and 59 passes defensed across eight NFL seasons. He was a Pro Bowler in both 2019 and 2020 with the Buffalo Bills, who drafted him 16th overall in 2018. He turns 28 in May.
Poles on the Tough Decisions
At the NFL Combine, Poles was asked directly about Edmunds' future and didn't shy away from the reality of the situation.
"This is a unique situation where we've gotten our roster in a position where we have a lot of talented players, a lot of guys getting paid well, and that puts some constraints on the cap," Poles said. "So we got to make some tough decisions."
He continued: "When we win games, you create these relationships. There's leadership guys or guys that were captains that mean a lot to our organization. But when you're kind of put in a corner, that's what league's been and has been."
That's the price of success. The Bears won the NFC North and made the Divisional Round for the first time since 2010. But winning means paying players, and paying players means the cap gets tight. Something had to give.
The Linebacker Room Is Thin
With Edmunds gone, the Bears' linebacker situation is concerning. T.J. Edwards fractured his fibula in the Wild Card game against the Packers. Noah Sewell suffered an Achilles injury in Week 17. Both ended the season on injured reserve. D'Marco Jackson, who was quietly effective in 16 games and four starts last season, is a pending free agent. So is Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Fourth-round pick Ruben Hyppolite II had a disappointing rookie year.
That means, as it stands right now, the Bears have no healthy starting linebackers under contract for 2026. That's a problem that needs solving—but linebacker isn't exactly a position that will break the bank this offseason. The 2026 free agent class is deep at the position, with names like Quay Walker, Devin Lloyd, Leo Chenal, and Bobby Okereke all available. The draft class is strong there, too. Poles can find Edmunds' replacement for a fraction of the cost.
What This All Means
The Bears are doing exactly what we've been tracking in our offseason needs series: stripping away veteran contracts to create the financial flexibility needed to fix the roster's real weaknesses. As we detailed across the safety, defensive tackle, edge rusher, and center installments, this team has glaring holes on a defense that ranked 29th in total yards allowed per game and 27th in rushing yards per game in 2025—despite winning 11 games.
Now Poles has the resources to attack those needs. The Bears hold picks at No. 25, No. 57, and No. 60 in the 2026 draft, and they've got north of $30 million in cap space with substantial restructure potential on top of that. The Maxx Crosby trade speculation isn't going away. Neither is the possibility of landing a top edge rusher or center in free agency. Legal tampering starts Monday. The real fun is about to begin.
Edmunds gave this team three solid years of consistent, professional production. He was a captain and a leader in the locker room. But his $17.9 million cap hit for a team with this many holes was a luxury the Bears couldn't justify—and finding no trade partner made the decision for them. He'll have no trouble finding work. The Giants, Titans, Raiders, and Cowboys have all been linked to interest in veteran linebackers this offseason.
This was the right move. It just wasn't a painless one.