The Bears’ rivals are trying to take Kyle Fuller away — or at least make them pony up to keep the cornerback.
The Packers signed Fuller to an offer sheet Friday, the Tribune first reported, leaving the Bears five days to match their offer or lose the former first-round draft pick.
The Bears issued Fuller the transition tag earlier this month, establishing a $12.971 million price for his 2018 season and setting the stage for a long-term contract extension.
They decided against using the franchise tag, which have paid $14.975 million but would have prevented other teams from swooping in.
Unlike players given the franchise tag, Fuller could still solicit contract offers from rival teams. The Bears must match the Packers’ offer, the details of which are as-yet unknown, in order to keep Fuller. They have plenty of cap space to do so. The Bears undoubtedly prepared for the possibility of Fuller receiving such an offer; just Thursday, general manager Ryan Pace praised contract negotiator Joey Lane for accurately estimating the asking price range for free agents.
Pace was asked the reasoning behind the transition tag — a mechanism the Bears hadn’t used in 17 years.
“Those are things that we talked about a lot kind of behind the scenes,” he said. “When we get into the contracts and the details, those are kept behind the scenes. Obviously, you guys know how we feel about Kyle. We value Kyle. We like Kyle, and we just figured that was the best course of action.”
