The Bears, as expected, will decline the fifth-year option on Kevin White’s rookie contract (per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo), meaning 2015’s seventh overall pick will become a free agent after the 2018 season. Guaranteeing nearly $14 million — the value of White’s fifth-year option — to a guy who’s only appeared in five games in three years was never realistic for the Bears.
In one sense, the pressure is off White in 2018. The Bears insulated themselves from having to rely on the oft-injured White to produce by signing Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton and drafting Anthony Miller — a sharp deviation from 2017, when White would’ve been the team’s No.