Kyle Fuller Showing He's Still a Bad Man Despite New Contract

One of the biggest fears for teams, when they're handing out lucrative new contracts, is the "complacency" rule. It occurs with younger players who didn't do too much early in their career, then they lit the world on fire for their contract season. This forces a team into a decision, either pay them in hopes that the trend continues or gamble that it was a one-season wonder. The Chicago Bears faced this situation with Kyle Fuller. Often when the player gets that fat, new contract they tend to vanish as quickly as they appeared. They revert back to the form they showed earlier in their career. It becomes apparent the only reason they tried hard was to get that new payday. This was undoubtedly a fear with Fuller who'd endured a roller coast first three seasons in Chicago before breaking out with a tremendous 2017 performance. He started all 16 games, had two interceptions, 22 passes defended and finished second on the team in tackles. The Bears elected to use the transition tag on him this offseason betting no other team would make an aggressive offer to get him. Green Bay made an offer he liked, but in the end, Chicago matched it, giving their former first round pick a four-year deal at $14 million per season. The only thing left to do was wait and see how he'd react.

Early signs show Kyle Fuller is anything but complacent after new deal

Based on impressions from the first three practices of training camp, Fuller is rolling along as if the new contract never even happened. Receivers always seem to find him waiting when the ball arrives, either to knock it away or intercept it. He seems even more comfortable and aggressive in his style than ever before. There's no thinking in his movements. Just reading and reacting with quick precision. Try to run an out route to the sideline? He breaks to the ball and knocks it away. Try to run him off on a vertical? He's in the hip pocket and ready to pounce the second the ball is underthrown. It's crazy to say but he looks even better than he did at the end of last season. It seems like the only times he gets beat is by a perfect throw or an offensive pass interference.

Why is this still so hard to accept? Fuller was a first round pick for a reason. He's that talented. It was always felt that if he got the right coaching and found the right work ethic, he could be as good as anybody in the NFL. Maybe his frustrating first three years which included inconsistent play and then a season-ending knee injury convinced people he just wasn't good enough. This is proof that not every top draft choice becomes a success right away. Patience is required sometimes. It's still early and things might change, but the evidence is piling up fast. Fuller not only looks like he could duplicate what he did in 2017 but perhaps even surpass it. Could he be the first cornerback to make a Pro Bowl since Tim Jennings way back in 2013? It looks like he's determined to try.