Updated: Bears restructure Kyle Fuller’s contract

According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Chicago Bears have restructured the contract of cornerback Kyle Fuller to give them more cap space in 2020.

On January 2, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported that the Bears added two voidable years to the end of Fuller’s contract. The extra two years are basically “dummy” years, “meaning if Fuller is with the organization beyond the 2021 season, it will not be with the terms of the current contract,” according to Biggs.

Fuller’s contract was back-loaded as it was given to him by the Green Bay Packers when they signed the then transition tagged Fuller to a deal in March of 2018. The Bears quickly matched the offer and Fuller went on to be named first team All Pro and make the Pro Bowl team in 2018.

This season Fuller has 78 tackles, 12 passes defended, and 3 interceptions while playing in 99.7% of their defensive snaps and 18.4% of their special teams snaps.

He was set to carry a cap hit of $13,500,000 in 2020, but with the restructure that number will likely come down. His 2019 cap hit was $6.5 million, with the Bears cap space at $17,562,989 this year, so their will still be some money available to roll over if they elect to do so.

From Biggs’ article:

In the reworked deal, he received a $7.5 million option bonus, which is pro-rated over a total of five years — from the 2019 season that just ended through 2023. Now, he has a base salary of $4.5 million for 2020 and which lowers his cap hit to $11.5 million, creating $6 million in cap savings for the coming season. He’ll earn the same amount for the season, $13 million.

The reworked deal raised his cap hit in 2021 from $18.5 million to $20 million.

The Bears currently have approximately $16 million in cap space for the 2020 season.

All contract numbers from Spotrac.