Matching Packers’ bid for CB Kyle Fuller was easy call for Bears GM Ryan Pace

SHARE Matching Packers’ bid for CB Kyle Fuller was easy call for Bears GM Ryan Pace
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Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller (23) battles Packers receiver Davante Adams (17) last Sunday at Soldier Field. The Packers targeted Fuller 10 times and completed eight passes against him in a 23-16 victory. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

ORLANDO, Fla. — When the Bears decided to use the transition tag on Kyle Fuller, general manager Ryan Pace said part of their preparations involved pinpointing the “corner-needy” teams.

“And Green Bay was one of those we thought could be a possibility,” Pace said during the NFL’s annual meetings.

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“So you aren’t surprised when the offer sheet comes in. It’s just, ‘OK, now what does this contract look like?’ ”

As it turns out, the Packers’ bid for Fuller was part gamesmanship. That’s what Packers general manager Brian Gutenkunst intimated during his conversations with Packers reporters in Orlando.

Gutenkunst commended Russ Ball, the Packers’ director of football operations, for the design of the Packers’ four-year, $56 million offer sheet, which included $18 million guaranteed. The original cost of the rarely used transition tag for Fuller was $12.971 million.

“Russ did a good job of structuring it in a way that may make it difficult for them, with the understanding we knew it was a low-percentage chance,” Gutenkunst told reporters. “We knew the whole time, especially being within the division, that there was probably a small chance that we’d actually acquire the player.”

As it turned out, matching the offer sheet wasn’t that difficult of a decision for the Bears, considering their ample salary-cap space and their desire to maintain Fuller as a part of coordinator Vic Fangio’s defense.

Fuller has the same annual average of $14 million as wide receiver Allen Robinson. It’s also just over $1 million more than the cost of his original transition tag.

“Once we were able to dig down and see the contract and see the language, then understand that, ‘Hey, that’s a very fair contract for Kyle,’ then [came] the excitement of, ‘Hey, let’s match this,’ ” Pace said. “Now we’ve got him here with us long-term, and he earned that. And we’re happy for him.”

NOTE: Craig Steltz is suing the NFL over traumatic brain injuries suffered as a special-teamer from 2008 to ’14. The former safety filed the lawsuit Tuesday in New Orleans federal court, according to the Advocate, claiming he “sustained repetitive, traumatic sub-concussive and/or concussive head impacts.” He’s seeking unspecified damages.

The Bears cut Steltz in August 2014. The NFL’s $1 billion settlement covers only those who stopped playing July 2014 or earlier.

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