Chicago clears over $2 million in cap space with its first offseason cut of linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga as free agency approaches and bigger roster decisions loom.
Free agency is around the corner, and the Chicago Bears are beginning to prepare the way for a big offseason.
It was clear as day watching the 2025 season unfold that the Bears have some additions they need to make for next season. It starts with taking another step as a team to become a more well-rounded roster, and that means building up the defensive side of the ball.
But if Chicago has any plans to make impact additions in free agency, they’ll first need to clear up cap space.
Entering Thursday, the Bears were 25th in the NFL in cap space and needed to clear over $5 million just to get their heads above water. (via Over The Cap)
It’s doable. There’s a series of roster moves the Bears can make in the coming weeks to clear cap space and give themselves plenty of financial flexibility to add in free agency.
Whether it be trades, restructured deals, or straight-up cuts, the Bears are still in a position where the cap is malleable.
And on Thursday, they started chipping away and creating flexibility.
The Bears have officially released veteran linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga and saved over $2 million in salary cap space in the process.
Ogbongbemiga dealt with some injuries in 2025 and played in eight games for the Bears. He appeared in all 17 games during the 2024 season.
Over his last two seasons in Chicago, he had a combined 30 tackles and one sack.
Ogbongbemiga primarily contributed as a special teams linebacker — and a pretty good one at that. He also stepped up when other key Bears defensive players battled injuries of their own.
But he’ll be closing in on his 28th birthday during Week 1 of the 2026 season, and for the Bears, was his $2,445,000 cap number worth it for his special teams contributions moving forward? That role could easily be replaced by a linebacker playing for the league minimum or a rookie from the upcoming draft class.
And while the $2 million in savings may not seem very significant in the grand scheme of things, stacking a few of these moves on top of one another can be what allows the Bears to sign another difference-maker.
Ogbongbemiga might be the first cut the Bears have made, but he certainly won’t be the last — or the most notable. There should be more moves coming, maybe even within the next 48 hours.
The Bears now sit around $3 million over the cap.