The Chicago Bears will have to do some cleaning up of their payroll if they want to be aggressive in free agency this coming spring. They have a number of in-house guys who will be looking for new deals and there’s only so much money to go around. GM Ryan Pace must manage his resources carefully and not get carried away. Then again, many believe he might not have a choice. Not if he wants to reshuffle the quarterback position.
NFL insider Field Yates took a look at what he considers to be the top 25 free agents going into 2020. There are quite a few quarterbacks this time around. More than usual. The seventh-ranked player on his list is New Orleans Saints backup Teddy Bridgewater who did a tremendous job this season in place of the injured Drew Brees, going undefeated in every start. Yates thinks there is one perfect fit for the former 1st round pick out there.
Can you guess who it is?
“The Bears need to hunt for a quarterback upgrade this offseason, but absent a first-round pick, free agency is their best avenue. As mentioned, Rivers is also an option, but Bridgewater was so impressive filling in for Brees earlier this season, including three starts with a completion percentage north of 70%. Similar to the situation in New Orleans, Bridgewater would land with a Chicago team that has a rock-solid defense and would be immediately good enough to compete again.”
Chicago Bears likely not thinking about this anymore
To be fair, this statement by Yates was made hours before Thursday Night Football on December 5th. The night that Mitch Trubisky delivered arguably the best performance of his career. One that saw him accounted for 244 yards passing, 63 rushing, and four total touchdowns. It was his second-straight game with three TD passes and it’s clear he is playing some really good football of late. While at one point in time the Bears may have had their eyes looking towards the market next year, that is likely no longer the case.
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Trubisky is playing well enough to where he will likely get one more year as the starter. Maybe with a cheap veteran who can push him from the backup position. Bridgewater will be anything but cheap in 2020. Projections have him making somewhere between $20-30 million a year should he hit the market. Teams pay that to a guy they plan on being their starter. The Bears clearly are not at such a point. They still believe in Trubisky and are willing to stay patient with him.
