Chicago Bears: 3 reasons to trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick
By Ryan Heckman
Reason No. 1: A Rookie Deal
The Bears are going to have a few decisions ahead of them in the near future. Coming up, they will have to decide whether they will extend guys like Mitchell Trubisky, Eddie Jackson and Tarik Cohen. A year further down the road from them, it’ll be Roquan Smith and Bilal Nichols who will be in line for a pay day.
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For the next three seasons (barring any crazy holdout situation) Fitzpatrick is signed to his rookie contract. This will count roughly $3.7 million against the cap this season, $4.4 million next season and $5.2 million in the final year of his deal.
A rookie contract is like gold, especially when the player is as talented as Fitzpatrick is. I say Fitzpatrick is incredibly talented, despite a rookie season where some may have expected more. Let’s be real, here. It’s Miami. In Chicago, Fitzpatrick’s talent would be allowed to bloom while surrounded by a plethora of Pro Bowl teammates.
The Bears have already proved they take care of their own by extending plenty of guys over the last couple of years, most recently with guard Cody Whitehair. Ryan Pace keeps talent around, and he needs money to do so. Fitzpatrick’s deal would allow the Bears flexibility in that realm.