With the salary cap finally set, the Bears must find about $18 million in cap savings in the next week

The NFL informed teams Wednesday that the salary cap for the 2021 season would be set at $182.5 million. Up until now, teams had been left guessing at the exact number, although they knew it would fall no lower than $180 million.

The total cap number is down more than $15 million from the 2020 salary cap, which was $198.2 million. That’s a drop in about 8%. The economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic will have a resounding effect on the 2021 free agency market.

Typically the salary cap goes up year-over-year. The only previous decrease since the cap was introduced in 1994 was in 2011, a season that was affected by an NFL lockout. In recent years, the cap has gone up by about $10 million a year.

Teams across the league are dealing with the ramifications of a lower salary cap. Front offices plan years in advance with long-term contracts, and one year ago NFL general managers were under the impression that the 2021 cap would be in the ballpark of $210 million. Veteran players are sure to be cut between now and March 17, when the new league year begins.

From the players’ perspective, a lower cap number in 2021 is going to affect the NFL’s middle class the most. The top players, the best of the best at their positions, still will earn hefty contracts. It’s the veteran players who don’t make as much as the stars who could have a harder time earning what they previously were worth on the open market.

Teams are allowed to roll over unused salary cap space from one year to another. In Chicago, with the adjusted salary cap rollover, the Bears have just shy of $190 million to work with in 2021.

The team just announced it would use the franchise tag on receiver Allen Robinson. The Bears also have already cut defensive back Buster Skrine and tackle Bobby Massie in order to make room in the cap.

With the addition of Robinson’s franchise tag price – $17.9 million – and the cuts of Skrine and Massie, the Bears are sitting at $208 million in active contracts. General manager Ryan Pace obviously has some work to do in order to get that number down to $190 million by the time the new league year begins next week.

The Bears are going to have to shed salary in a big way. Cuts are coming and restructures are likely. Keep in mind, they don’t currently have a right tackle and their only quarterback on the roster is Nick Foles.

[Read more: How bad is the Bears’ cap situation in 2021? A Q&A with Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus]