Packers sign Kyle Fuller to offer sheet; Bears have 5 days to match

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Packers are in need of a top-level cornerback, and they're trying to take one away from their division rival.

The Packers on Friday signed Kyle Fuller to an offer sheet, a source confirmed to ESPN. The Chicago Bears gave Fuller the transition tag, and now they have five business days to match the offer.

The news was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.

The Bears placed the transition tag on Fuller on March 6, guaranteeing the cornerback $12.971 million for 2018 and giving Chicago the right to match any offers. Because they used the transition tag and not the franchise tag -- which would have been more costly -- the Bears will receive nothing in return if they choose not to match the Packers' offer.

Green Bay traded away cornerback Damarious Randall, its first-round pick in 2015, to the Cleveland Browns this week in exchange for quarterback DeShone Kizer. Randall played the most snaps of any Packers cornerback last season. Last year's top draft pick, Kevin King, is a No. 1-caliber cornerback, but he finished last season on injured reserve (shoulder). So did another potential starting corner in Quinten Rollins (Achilles).

The Packers expressed interest in free-agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Carolina Panthers but then failed his physical. It's possible the Packers could revisit Breeland when he's healthy.

Earlier this week, new Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said cornerback was "obviously a position we're looking at heavily right now."

"I don't think it's imperative [to sign one in free agency]," Gutekunst said. "But like I said, we're going to look at every avenue. This is something that really between now and the start of training camp that we'll be looking at. There'll be many avenues to upgrade that group. But like I said, I think we have some good young players there that'll be competing for those spots, but it is something that we're focused on."

After Fuller looked all but done with the Bears before the start of the 2017 season, the 26-year-old defensive back turned in arguably his best season with 67 tackles, 2 interceptions and 22 pass breakups. Chicago brought in multiple cornerbacks last spring, in essence to replace Fuller after the 2014 first-round draft pick suspiciously missed the entire 2016 season following a routine knee scope, causing the team to decline his fifth-year option.

Fuller started 46 games for the Bears over four seasons. As a rookie in 2014, he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after getting two interceptions against San Francisco in Week 2.

ESPN's Jeff Dickerson contributed to this report.