Bears grant LB Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade

INDIANAPOLIS — Amid the possibility that the Bears will cut him in the next three weeks for salary cap purposes, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds has been granted permission to seek a trade, a source confirmed Wednesday.

Cutting Edmunds before the start of the league year next month would save the Bears $15 million. He would count as a $17.4 million cap hit next year if he's on the roster but take merely a $2.4 million dead cap charge if he's cut. He's entering the final year of his contract.

The Bears figure to make a move before the start of the league year March 11. He's due a $1 million roster bonus two days later.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles was vague when asked about Edmunds' future Tuesday.

"There's a couple guys we've got to make decisions on," he said. "You know, if that's trade, release, there's a lot of different options that … or few options that we can go down to create some space. But like I said before, this is a unique situation where we've gotten our roster in a position where we have a lot of talented players, a lot of guys getting paid well, and that puts some constraints on the cap. So we've got to make some tough decisions."

Edmunds just finished his best season as a Bear, totaling four interceptions — the second-most of any linebacker in the NFL — and leading the team in tackles despite missing four games because of a groin injury. D’Marco Jackson was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week in his place.

Edmunds doesn't turn 28 into May and has a unique blend of height and athleticism for the position.

The Bears need to get under the salary cap by the start of the league year. They could also restructure the contracts of receiver DJ Moore, Grady Jarrett and Montez Sweat, though Poles has promised to be judicious with how much extra money he pushes into future years.

The Bears signed Edmunds three years ago in the wake of trading Roquan Smith to the Ravens.