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 receiver Rashied Davis.