7 years agoLate on Friday, cornerback Kyle Fuller, who had been assigned the transition tag by Chicago, signed an offer sheet with the Green Bay Packers. Chicago quickly matched the offer and will retain Fuller on a long-term deal that will make Fuller one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the league. The deal is for four years and worth $56 million. There is only $18 million in guarantees, however the annual high cap hit may make long term retention difficult. A former first round draft pick, the 26 year old cornerback was impressive for Chicago last year and re-signing him was a priority for the Bears this offseason. Fuller and the Bears were having difficulty reaching a long-term deal, so Chicago applied the rarely utilized transition tag to Fuller. The transition tag is similar to a franchise tag. However, in exchange for paying a player less than the franchise tag, any other team can make an offer for the player. The tagging team still maintains the right to match any offer but is not compensated in draft picks if they fail to do so. Chicago applied the transition tag to Fuller, which would have resulted in a $13 million cap hit in 2018 as opposed to a roughly $15 million hit if they franchised him. They guessed that no one would make an offer, however their cornerback needy rivals, the Packers, called their bluff. Chicago will maintain Fuller going forward, but likely at a much higher salary than they had hoped for.--Tyger McGuiggan
Source: Jason Wilde