Pernell McPhee is unlikely to be back with the Bears unless he accepts a pay cut, ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson writes. The outside linebacker has been plagued by knee problems since joining Chicago in 2015 and the team can save $7.075MM by cutting him with just $1MM in dead money. A revised deal makes more sense, Dickerson argues, since the team needs him for keeping the locker room in check.
Here’s more from the NFC North:
- The Vikings and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd are going to the mat over a salary dispute, as Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune writes. Floyd spent 2017 on the non-football injury (NFI) list as he tried to return from a nerve issue in his right knee. The Vikings paid him $2MM in base salary and adding a $6K workout bonus to his 2017 pay. However, Floyd says he is owed his entire $6.757MM salary for last season since he says his issue should not have been classified as “non-football”. Had Floyd started the season on the PUP list and eventually gone to IR, he would have received his full salary for the year. At this point, it’s unlikely Floyd will be able to resume his career, Goessling writes.
- There is much debate about whether the Bears should use the franchise tag on cornerback Kyle Fuller, but the transition tag might make more sense in this instance, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes. The franchise tag value at cornerback is projected to cost roughly $15MM, while the transition tag will be closer to $13MM. The transition tag means that the Bears would not receive draft compensation if another team inked Fuller to an offer sheet, but they would have the right of first refusal and they have enough cap space to match any reasonable proposal.
- On Tuesday, we learned that the Bears will decline Josh Sitton‘s option for 2018.