Bears have $25 million in "upfront" money to spend

[Dpantherman]

Posted by Mike Florio on March 2, 2010 7:57 AM ET

Last month, Bears president Ted Phillips declared that the Bears won't go "hog wild" in free agency.

Apparently, not going hog wild means having only $25 million in guaranteed money to spend on free agents.

Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that G.M. Jerry Angelo has received permission to spend that amount in order to secure "impact" free agents. Frankly, that won't be enough to make a competitive bid for Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers -- especially if the Redskins are sitting in the crowd with one of those paddles with a number on it.

Jensen suggests that the allotted sum could go even higher based on a purging of veterans like Orlando Pace, whose departure frees up $3.75 million under whatever budget the team has applied to the 2010 season. Others who could be targeted for full or partial pay cuts are cornerback Nathan Vasher, defensive end Alex Brown, and tight end Rashied Davis.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/02/report-bears-have-25-million-in-up-front-money-to-spend/

[davos]

I wouldn't be against Peppers in Chi-Town. I would be fine with him being inconsistent up there for the remainder of his career

[Snake]

He will land there or Washington. Ether way he will be hated by the fans at the end of the year. We as fans really let him off the hook for a long time because of his ties to North Carolina.

[CatMan72]

So after Manning and Muhammed, they're still looking to pick up our sloppy seconds? LOL

I can't wait to see what happens when Cutler starts publicly criticizing Peppers effort...

[therealmjl]

I hope that Pep goes to the Bears and does nothing like Moose and Manning.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

I guess they could always use it to sign Peppers for a year.