The Denver Broncos have agreed to terms with former Chicago Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller on a one-year deal.
According to Tom Pelissero of The NFL Network, the deal is worth $9.5 million with $9 million of it guaranteed.
Fuller was released early Saturday morning after the team held onto him for a possible trade after reports came out that the Bears were going to release him.
Multiple teams had attempted to sign Fuller, but it was clear that he wanted to reunite with his former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Fuller improved and excelled in Fangio’s defensive scheme while in Chicago, culminating in an All-Pro season in 2018.
During the 2018 season, Fuller tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with seven and 21 passes defended. Fuller had 22 passes defended in 2017.
In Fuller’s last two seasons, he made one Pro Bowl, but his numbers declined with just 12 passes defended in 2019 and just eight last season. This could be because quarterbacks threw fewer passes in his direction, but his play hasn’t excelled without Fangio.
Fuller was expected to make $14 million dollars this season, but also held a $20 million cap hit which made it difficult for teams to trade for that contract.
This is the second deal that Denver general manager George Paton has gotten done this offseason at the cornerback position. The Broncos earlier agreed to sign Ronald Darby to a three-year deal worth up to $30 million. The plan for Denver was to hopefully sign two cornerbacks in this offseason, before having to target one early in the draft. Paton also went ahead and signed safety Justin Simmons to a long-term deal, making him the highest paid safety in the NFL. Between, Simmons, Darby, and Fuller, the Broncos have invested a total of $63 million in guaranteed money to a secondary that ranked 16th in the NFL in passing.
With Paton also picking up Von Miller’s option for $7 million guaranteed and signing defensive end Shelby Harris to a three-year deal, Denver is going to have high expectations on the defensive side of the ball in 2021.
With the Broncos waiting on news about Deshaun Watson, the quarterback position will come into play for the Broncos in the draft with the No. 9 pick as well as a middle linebacker.
Safe to say newly hired general manager is making big decisions in his first offseason.
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