Bears get cap relief by restructuring Peppers' contract

By restructuring Julius Peppers' contract and turning his $10.5 million roster bonus for this season into a signing bonus that is spread evenly over the five remaining years on his $91 million contract for salary cap relief, the Bears have saved roughly $8 million for 2011.

That extra cap space could allow the Bears to be more active in free agency, which is on hold until the NFL and the players' union agrees on a new collective bargaining agreement. The Bears could also use the extra money to re-sign some of their 16 free agents, most of whom are expected to be unrestricted, or to extend deals for key players already under contract. But without a CBA, NFL teams don't yet know what the salary cap will be for 2011.

“We have more unrestricted free agents than what we've had in the past,” said general manager Jerry Angelo. “So we've got a full plate. We will be able to do (some) things in free agency regardless of what the scenario of what the cap is.”