Patience is hard to come by these days. NFL teams are under so much pressure to do something. Whatever it takes to improve. Right now. Yesterday. The Chicago Bears are certainly feeling that pressure. After teasing fans with their excellent season in 2018, the past two years did not go according to plan with back-to-back 8-8 finishes. While plenty of reasons contributed to it, none played a bigger role than the quarterback position.
Mitch Trubisky had a solid year in ’18 with 27 total touchdowns. Enough to reach the Pro Bowl as an alternate. Since then, the former #2 overall pick failed to take the next step forward in his development. He seemed to have plateaued and the Bears weren’t able to get enough out of him to compensate for the natural decline of their great defense. Now here they are. Trubisky is a free agent and the team is left scrambling to find an upgrade.
Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy either find one or likely get fired.
Just what the Bears need. A GM who flubbed the biggest QB opportunity in over a decade entering an offseason where his job is on the line. The last thing they want is a guy like that feeling desperate. Since that announcement was made, fans have waited with bated breath. They just know the other shoe is going to drop at some point soon. That moment Pace makes his trademark aggressive move that likely involves overpaying for a QB that ultimately won’t move the needle.
Yet nearly two solid months have passed. Two major QB names have swapped jerseys for new teams. All the while nothing has emerged from Halas Hall. Complete radio silence. There were reports of them having interest in Matthew Stafford and later Carson Wentz but neither went too far for understandable reasons. So what gives? Do the Bears have something big planned?
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Not exactly. At least not now.
Chicago Bears appear ready to wait out the market
According to a source, the Bears don’t appear in any hurry to push through a decision at quarterback. The general belief as of right now is the team will shift their focus to getting the salary cap in order and start working on retaining some of their in-house free agents. The franchise tag window opens on February 23rd and goes through March 9th. So Allen Robinson Watch will officially begin.
When will the QB question heat back up you ask? Well barring an unexpected change in the current market, the belief is things will get interesting closer to the draft in April. Deshaun Watson isn’t available right now. Dak Prescott should get tagged. Derek Carr may receive a contract extension. It’s felt that the next big domino to fall will be Sam Darnold but the New York Jets have no plans to deal him until they’ve evaluated the 2021 draft class.
That means nothing is likely to break until then.
Rather than make a mad dash for a second-tier trade option like Marcus Mariota or a veteran free agent like Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Chicago Bears brass is content to see how the market unfolds. It’s possible there could be some serious delayed action. Especially if certain teams end up grabbing a QB early in the draft. Think Miami, Atlanta, Carolina, and San Francisco.
This would potentially put names like Tua Tagovailoa, Matt Ryan, Teddy Bridgewater, and Jimmy Garoppolo in play. Perhaps at more favorable prices too. It makes sense for the Bears to wait.