{"id":38407,"date":"2018-03-06T14:52:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T19:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=38407"},"modified":"2021-05-30T14:30:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T18:30:47","slug":"chicago-bears-place-transition-tag-kyle-fuller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/03\/06\/chicago-bears-place-transition-tag-kyle-fuller\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears Place Transition Tag on Kyle Fuller"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bears\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chicago Bears<\/a> are placing the transition tag on cornerback <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=FullKy00,FullKy01&amp;search=Kyle+Fuller&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Fuller<\/a><\/strong>, according to NFL Network&#8217;s <strong>Ian Rapoport<\/strong>. It&#8217;s a move that will allow Fuller to play under a fully guaranteed $12.971 million contract in 2018 if a long-term deal between him and the team isn&#8217;t reached.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A surprise: The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bears?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Bears<\/a> are going to apply the transition tag to CB Kyle Fuller, sources say. With their cap situation, they can match any offer that would come in. This keeps a top talent at a key position on the team.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/971106711078612993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 6, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1><strong>Chicago Bears Place Transition Tag on Kyle Fuller\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Fuller was a top draft prospect coming out of Virginia Tech in 2014. He earned a host of awards during his college career, including a Second-Team All-American selection in 2013.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MayoMi20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Mayock<\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: #222222;\"> described him as the &#8220;<\/span><a style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/draft\/2014\/profiles\/kyle-fuller?id=2543681\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most NFL-ready cornerback<\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: #222222;\">&#8221; and compared him to <\/span><strong style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: #222222;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FlowBr99.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Flowers<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: #222222;\"> in advance of the 2014\u00a0NFL Draft. He was taken 14th overall by the <\/span>Bears<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: #222222;\"> after four seasons with the Hokies, becoming only the third cornerback taken in the first round in team history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In his first season with Chicago, the rookie burst onto the scene following an injury to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/TillCh20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charles Tillman<\/a><\/strong>. The first-round pick earned his due, racking up 64 total tackles, ten passes defended, four interceptions, and three forced fumbles. The team awarded him the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PiccBr00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Brian Piccolo<\/strong><\/a> Award after his rookie season for his loyalty, dedication, and teamwork. His numbers dipped slightly in 2015, recording 55 total tackles, nine\u00a0passes defended, and two interceptions. Then, tragedy struck.<\/p>\n<p>Fuller underwent an arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-August 2016 and struggled to recover from the injury. The Bears placed him on injured reserve, and the former first-round pick failed to see a single snap during the 2016 season. As a result, the Bears declined to pick up the fifth-year option that would have kept Fuller in Chicago for the 2018 season. This was a decision they soon came to regret. Fuller bounced back in 2017 with 69 tackles, 22 passes defended, and two interceptions. His 22 deflections led the league in 2017. Several sources have floated comparisons to Pro Bowler\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HaywCa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Casey Hayward<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0In late February, NFL.com named Fuller as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/story\/0ap3000000917412\/article\/top-101-nfl-free-agents-of-2018-kirk-cousins-tops-the-board\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the top cornerback hitting free agency this off-season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The knee surgery that kept him out of the 2016 season marks the only time an injury has kept Fuller from the field for a full season. A sports hernia\u00a0forced him to miss the final four games of the Hokies 2013 campaign.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"PBibTx1wSy1jKzS6RSnzsw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/896558552\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'PBibTx1wSy1jKzS6RSnzsw',sig:'mTIuHSLQ8pnUYJkCA8HnO9ABv0cuRY1JNk1p258pdPI=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'896558552',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bears are applying the transition tag to Kyle Fuller, meaning the 26-year-old cornerback will play on a fully guaranteed $12.97 million contract in 2018 if he and the team can&#8217;t agree to a long-term deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2167,"featured_media":38971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,23],"tags":[42,3594,40],"class_list":["post-38407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-bears","tag-chicago-bears","tag-kyle-fuller","tag-nfl"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}