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The Chicago Bears are expected to be “big players” in the quarterback market this offseason, per Jay Glazer of FOX Sports.
The Bears surprisingly made the playoffs this season as the No. 7 seed, despite receiving inconsistent quarterback play from both Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky. Foles completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 1,852 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Trubisky, however, completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,055 yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
With that type of production, it does not come as a surprise to see the Bears thinking about making an upgrade under center. Glazer also listed a few options that the Bears could explore such as trading for Deshaun Watson or Matthew Stafford, finding a young quarterback in the 2021 draft, or signing a veteran quarterback in free agency.
Out of the three proposed options, the most logical choices would be drafting another young quarterback in the first round or signing a veteran in free agency. Most Bears fans would love to see the team trade for Watson after they opted to pass on him in the 2017 draft, in favor of Trubisky. However, can the Bears afford to make that move happen as they only have $10 million in cap space? And not to mention, what could they offer to the Texans in terms of player compensation to bring Watson to the Windy City?
When you look at this year’s draft class, they will have serviceable options at pick 20 as Mac Jones, Trey Lance, and Kyle Trask could all be there. But are any of those guys worth a first round pick and a good candidate to turn the franchise around? Therefore, I could see them going the free agency route, especially if the Saints don’t retain Jameis Winston. Winston is only 27 years old and is worth a one or two-year deal.
Other potential free agent quarterbacks to consider for the Bears would be Dak Prescott, Jacoby Brissett, and Cam Newton. Prescott should re-sign with the Cowboys, but the other two signal callers could be nice options on a short-term deal. Nevertheless, it shall be interesting to see what the Bears do because one would have to think that head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace are on the hot seat.