Business never stops for the Chicago Bears, even in the middle of a season. GM Ryan Pace has a long list of objectives ahead of him. This presuming he's still in charge by the end of December. Most of them center on the offense. Can he extend Allen Robinson? Can he find an actual good quarterback? Will he be able to repair a broken offensive line? However, this can't distract from some big decisions on the defensive side as well. One of them centering on cornerback Kyle Fuller.
There is no denying the facts. He's been one of the best in the NFL at his position this season. Despite being on the field longer than most in the league due to atrocious offensive play, Fuller has allowed just 46.6% of passes completed in his direction. Quarterbacks have a 61.3 passer rating when throwing at him. To say nothing of how consistently good he's been in run support as well.
The guy is playing the best football of his career.
This is great and not-so-great news for the Bears. It's great because it's helping their defense remain among the NFL elite. However, it also presents a problem on the financial front. Chicago is facing a major salary cap crunch in 2021. Even with a rollover of their current cap, they'd have no more than $3-4 million. This with 30 pending free agents including Robinson to deal with. Not great. A big part of the problem is Fuller. His cap hit next year is huge at $20 million. This leaves Pace with a dilemma. Does he think about extending the star corner despite him creeping closer to age 30? Or does he consider trading him while his value is peaking for cap relief and some draft picks? It's not an easy choice. Based on what Brad Biggs said in his latest Chicago Tribune article, it seems the team is leaning towards the former."Fuller is under contract for one more year, and the Bears reworked his contract the day before the 2019 season ended, a move that created $6 million in cap savings for this season. As a result, Fuller has a cap hit of $20 million for 2021. Extending him could lower that number, but that can’t be done on the cheap. Fuller, 28, is in the prime of his career and likely will want to be squarely in that echelon just below Ramsey, the league’s highest-paid cornerback at $20 million per season."[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PP-Fuller-with-the-hard-hit-Quinn-with-the-scoop-you-already-know-the-rest.-NFLNFOXPRIME-.mp4"][/video]







