The Bears cut starting slot cornerback Buster Skrine on Monday to free up some salary-cap space, but that was the easy move.
The salary-cap reckoning the Bears are bracing for could be much more costly. Right tackle Bobby Massie and tight end Jimmy Graham are likely candidates to become cap casualties. But it will take some fancy footwork by Bears general manager Ryan Pace and director of football administration Joey Laine to avoid the kind of loss that can’t be absorbed as easily as Skrine, Massie or Graham.
The two biggest targets, just by the numbers, are cornerback Kyle Fuller ($11 million cap savings) and defensive end Akiem Hicks ($11.