The Bears have agreed to a two-year extension with fullback Khari Blasingame, according to his agency. 

Blasingame, 26, signed with the Bears in March 2022. He spent the first three seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. Last season, he played in 16 games (started six) as the team's fullback. 

The Bears are one of the few teams in the NFL to use a fullback, even though they used Blasingame in 16.8 percent of offensive snaps last season. Matt Eberflus made it clear on the Pardon My Take podcast he and the team value fullbacks in their offense. They see it as enough reason to bring back Blasingame. 

"I think the utilization of a fullback is an important thing. That's why we have one. It's an important piece to it.," Eberflus said. 

Fullbacks have certainly deteriorated in today's game. The days of seeing a traditional I-formation are gone, outside of goal line or short-distance situations. Eberflus believes the reason is derivative of the college football scheme creeping into the NFL. 

"I would say that a lot of the college game is coming up, you know, to the pro game. And in, you know, many instances they're not using fullbacks. I think that's a big case of it. But we certainly value fullbacks and we think it's an important piece."

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