Bears remain ‘aggressive’ in their contract talks with cornerback Kyle Fuller

INDIANAPOLIS — During a 23-minute conversation with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine, general manager Ryan Pace issued a statement to cornerback Kyle Fuller and his representatives.

“I would say cornerback this year in free agency and the draft is a good position,” Pace said Wednesday. “So that’s beneficial to us.”

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Just how beneficial remains to be seen.

Fuller’s potential availability certainly would improve the free-agent cornerback depth. The Bears have until Tuesday to decide whether to use the franchise tag on him. If they do, it’s expected to cost them more than $15 million.

“We’re still evaluating that right now,” Pace said. “Obviously, we like Kyle, and he had a good season. We’re happy with the way he’s progressed, but those are things that are on the table. We’re still evaluating the process. We have some time.”

Last year, the franchise-tag deadline was before the combine. The league’s three-day negotiating window also began the day after the combine ended. The immediacy led to a different level of discussions between agents and teams at the combine.

This year is different. After the tag deadline Tuesday, there’s more than a week before the new league year opens March 14. The negotiating window opens March 12.

Pace said he doesn’t think the differences in the league’s schedule will affect negotiations with Fuller in the next week.

“The assessments we make on Kyle are internal, and we’ve already gone through a lot of those evaluations,” Pace said. “Now it’s just communicating with his agent and the different avenues that we have right now.”

Those “different avenues” could lead to signing other cornerbacks. Malcolm Butler (Patriots), Trumaine Johnson (Rams) and E.J. Gaines (Bills) are among the notable cornerbacks available. The Bears also have interest in re-signing Prince Amukamara.

Having the eighth overall selection, the Bears also are in position to possibly select the best cornerback in the draft. Ohio State’s Denzel Ward and Iowa’s Joshua Jackson will be considered.

Last year, the Bears pursued Stephon Gilmore (Patriots, $13 million annual average) and A.J. Bouye (Jaguars, $13.5 million annual average) — the best cornerbacks available — in free agency. Instead, the Bears signed Amukamara and Marcus Cooper.

Fuller, though, turned out to be the Bears’ best cornerback for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The Bears’ first-round pick in 2014, Fuller took Cooper’s starting job and made a team-best 22 pass breakups.

Pace described the team’s negotiations with Fuller, who turned 26 on Feb. 16, as “constantly ongoing.”

“The dialogue has been pretty aggressive,” he said. “We’ll see how it plays out.”

Follow me on Twitter @adamjahns.

Email: ajahns@suntimes.com