Bears to pick up fifth-year option on Leonard Floyd

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 14, 2019, 2:29 PM EDT
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Leonard Floyd remains in the Bears’ long-term plans.

Floyd, the outside linebacker the Bears chose with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, will have his fifth-year option picked up, Bears General Manager Ryan Pace said today.

That means Floyd will be under contract with the Bears through the 2020 season, and his salary for 2020 will rise to around $13 million. That salary will be guaranteed for injury, meaning if Floyd gets hurt in 2019 and can’t play in 2020, the Bears would still have to pay him, but if he’s healthy the Bears could choose to release him.

The 26-year-old Floyd is coming off a good season in which he started all 16 games for the NFL’s best defense. The Bears see him as a major building block in a team they hope will be back in the playoffs a year from now, and for years to come.

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10 responses to “Bears to pick up fifth-year option on Leonard Floyd”

  1. It’s gonna be fun to watch these guys try and squeeze all these up and coming contracts looking them square in the face….when you pay a defensive guy 23 mil a year there’s gonna be some hungry wolves out there come feeding time!

  3. Nice–not a lot of additional moves needed. If cap allows, bring back Amos and Callahan (in that order). If not, those spots and beefing up the lines in FA/draft is all the Bears need to hopefully have 10+ wins once again next year.

  6. What’s a little strange about Floyd is despite his stringbean build he’s actually become quite effective as a run defender. Arguably he’s better at that than he is at rushing the passer. He also flashed some decent coverage skills this year. He waited about as long as he could before he started playing up to his potential but he seems like a good kid and I’m glad things are finally coming together for him.

  7. They’d be better off signing a SS to play the position. 1/2 the cost, better coverage on a TE. My mother could play LB’r with the other 3 the Bears have.

    They could also move a SS all over the place and have enough money left over for a Kicker or two.

  9. Once he worked past the hand injury he was playing pretty consistent. Hes no Mack but if we can get the last 6 weeks of floyd on a week in-week out basis I am all on board for keeping him.

    And I find it funny how everyone thinks Bears are going to be in cap hell with the Mack contract. Salary cap continues to rise and Biscuit is still on a rookie contract. The way they have staggered the contracts with some of the recent signings will actually give them flexibility as they move into 2020. 2021. Josh Lucas has done a commendable job since taking over for Cliff Stein.

    BEAR DOWN!

  10. Watched this kid since the 9th grade. Only picked up football in high school. As humble as they come. Was back at his old high school last night giving shoes to the basketball team, a jersey to his principal and hugs to his old teachers. He has been doubted his whole career. He was never going to qualify academically for college but 1 year of prep school and he did. He was too light to set the edge at UGA. He became a Top 10 pick. Injuries in the NFL. He just keeps fighting through them. He has turned into a decent pro. And you will will never see he has gotten in trouble, hit a woman or got arrested. And he and Roquan grew up about 1.5 hrs from one another in South Central Georgia, so there are a lot of Bear fans down here now. Bears need an offense to go with this top notch defense. Mack and those guys on defense ain’t going to be around forever.

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