Ryan Poles continued to restructure the Bears roster on Friday. reportedly cut by Eddie Goldman. The move comes just hours after the Poles reportedly released Tarik Cohen due to injury and a day after Khalil Mak was traded to the Chargers in a blockbuster deal.
The Bears selected Goldman in the second round of the 2015 draft, and he soon became a key cog in Vic Fangio’s center defense, 3–4. But Goldman withdrew from the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, and it was unclear for a while if he would return in 2021. He didn’t participate in the mandatory mini-camp last summer and the coaches said they didn’t know. whether he was going to show up for training camp until he physically showed up at Halas Hall. When Goldman finally returned to action in Week 4, he was no longer the dominant player he was in 2019. It took Goldman a few weeks to settle in, and he was soon losing snaps to rookie Hiris Tonga. .
Now that Matt Eberflux has set up a 4-3 defense, a first-class nose grip is not as important as finding a dominant defensive grip. After the Mac deal, Goldman finished fourth on the team with a $11.8 million cap, which was too high a price to pay for a non-premium position. Goldman’s cut would bring in $5.15 million in dead money and free up $6.66 million in equity, according to Spotrac. But if Powles appoints Goldman as one of the two cuts after June 1, those numbers change to $2.95 million in dead money for 2022, $2.2 million in dead money for 2023, and $8.86 million in capital savings this year.
The Bears now have Tonga and Auzoya Alufohai under contract as inside linemen. Akim Hicks and Bilal Nichols will enter free agency next week.
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