Chicago Bears: 3 potential replacements for Kyle Fuller after his release
By Joseph Herff
To everybody’s surprise, the Chicago Bears released All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller freeing up $11 million in cap space. Frankly, the 29-year-old cornerback wasn’t worth his $20 million price tag he was due to make this season. The Bears reportedly asked him to take a pay cut, but he declined. So, he became a cap casualty to test the market. The Chicago Bears now have a major hole to fill at cornerback
The Bears tried to keep Kyle Fuller by asking him to take a VERY significant paycut, but he would rather test the market, per source.
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) March 18, 2021
Kyle Fuller will be a high-demand cornerback. The three-time Pro Bowler has been lockdown after getting his extension in 2018. 2018 ended up being his best season where he earned his All-Pro honors snagging seven interceptions.
The release of Kyle Fuller could potentially open up the idea of Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley, or Tre Roberson, but that isn’t nearly ideal. Now, the Bears should have nearly $10 million in cap space. With Akiem Hicks expected to be traded or released as well, the Bears could have $20 million in cap space and use some of that to take a discount on a currently deep cornerback market for free agency.
Will the Chicago Bears replace Kyle Fuller in the draft or free agency?
If the Bears don’t address it via free agency, they can through the draft as well. If that’s the case though, the Bears cornerback room will be extremely inexperienced as the only true starter is Jaylon Johnson and he was a rookie last season who didn’t even play the full season due to a shoulder injury.
Regardless, the Bears should bring a veteran in to compete for the starting cornerback job. Jaylon Johnson should be the true starter opposite of whoever they bring in, but they need to replace Kyle Fuller. Here are three guys they can target.