The Chicago Bears releasing Kyle Fuller is a gut punch. It is fair to give the Bears some sympathy as cap casualties have run rampant across the NFL due to a decreasing salary cap. Still, when you break down the Bears specific situation it is hard not to assign the blame of losing an All-Pro caliber cornerback to Ryan Pace.
The biggest issue with the Bears’ salary cap comes from decisions he made the last offseason. While no one could imagine the effects COVID would have on the cap, the virus did hit the country by the time free agency started. Nonetheless, the following three deals have not nearly paid off, even if the cap did go up.
Jimmy Graham 2021 salary cap hit – $10M
Robert Quinn 2021 salary cap hit – $14.7M
Nick Foles – $6.6M
In total, the team will have $30.7M tied up to their big free agent moves in 2021. Foles will be on the bench, if not traded, although the team will hardly save any money doing so. Graham will be a backup tight end, despite being one of the highest-paid players at his position. He is apparently sticking on the roster due to the off-chance that Seattle will trade Russell Wilson. Right.
Robert Quinn could potentially prove the signing right. He is also 31 years old with a variety of injuries.
The reality is that in releasing Fuller, the Bears saved just $11M. With $16M dedicated to Foles and Graham, two guaranteed backups who were overpaid in the last offseason, that has to sting. Every team would trade Robert Quinn, Nick Foles, and JImmy Graham for Kyle Fuller at this point. The Bears cannot because they guaranteed money to these players to the point where Fuller was the best way to save money.
The issue is that Ryan Pace was not thinking about 2021 when he acted for 2020. He was only worried about keeping his job for one more year and worrying about the fallout later. The fallout is cutting a former first-round pick, and one of the better homegrown players in recent history.