When the Bears released receiver Johnny Knox earlier today, we checked NFLPA records regarding his contract status. Those records revealed that Knox was under contract for 2013, at a salary of $1.26 million.
Elsewhere it’s been reported that Knox was due to become a free agent in March 2013, which would mean the Bears were simply doing him a favor by giving him an early ticket to the open market.
That’s not the case. A Bears spokesman advises PFT that, because Knox spent all of the 2012 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, his contract tolled.
So while 2012 would have been the last season of his rookie deal, that moved to 2013. And the Bears opted to move on.