Bears analyst explains the impact that Kyler Murray's contract should have on the Bears and Fields

Let's put it this way: The Bears have three years to build around Fields while his rookie deal is peanuts (relative to other QB contracts). Fields' rookie pact chews up 2.0% of the Bears' 2022 cap, 2.3% of the number in 2022 and 2023, per OverTheCap.com's calculations. Should Fields play well enough to earn an extension like Murray's, the percentage of cap space his deal will take up will shoot up north of 12 percent. But that type of money isn't coming down the pipeline for another 4-5 years. So, in the meantime, the Bears could (conceivably) load up on high-price veterans at premium positions. They didn't do that this offseason, but they are well positioned to do so next offseason when OTC projects the team to have $96,052,076 in cap space. Nothing like having a quarterback on a rookie deal and nearly $100 million to surround him with talent.

As for the future, I'm hoping Fields proves to be worthy of getting a Murrayesque pay day. Needing to accommodate a big, fat QB extension would be NFL first-world problems that I'm sure GM Ryan Poles and everyone else at Halas Hall would love to deal with if/when the time comes. Until that time comes, I'll do my best to limit my groveling as I think about how Ryan Pace wasted one of those cost-friendly years, while Poles will use a year cleaning up the mess his predecessor made.