It’s March 4th and Chicago Bears fans are already exhausted by all the quarterback rumors. Free agency is still two weeks away and resolutions don’t appear close on any of the big names. The only thing known is this. Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson are by far the biggest fish out there. Both aren’t happy with their current situations. The Bears need a quarterback desperately. So it’s only natural they’ve been connected to each of them.
Yet most of the national media refuse to accept the Bears are legitimate contenders for either. Not because the team isn’t willing to be aggressive for them. It’s more their lack of resources to offer. Chicago doesn’t have a top 10 draft pick nor do they have a serviceable quarterback to send back in any trade to Seattle or Houston. Something other teams can offer.
As usual, people look at these situations with too much logic.
So many variables go into trading a quarterback. It’s not just about what resources the team can get back. It is also about where the player wants to go. Both Wilson and Watson have a no-trade clause in their contracts. They have considerable say in where they end up. Wilson’s agent even listed the Bears as one of four teams he’d play for.
This is why most believe their best shot is with him and not Watson. However, ESPN insider Jeff Darlington has hinted multiple times that Chicago should not be ignored in the chase for the Texans star. It’s true they may not have a high pick this year or a QB to offer in return. Even so, they may be willing to offer something other teams would be reluctant to.
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Future picks.
Deshaun Watson is the golden goose of this offseason
He’s everything a team could want. A 25-year old elite quarterback coming off his best season who should be able to play at a high level for the next decade barring injuries. It isn’t hard to see why Texans GM Nick Caserio is so reluctant to even receive calls from other teams. He doesn’t want to go down in history as the guy who traded Deshaun Watson. Yet he has no choice in this.
Watson has made it clear for months that he has no intention of playing another down in Houston. The longer this standoff goes, the more Caserio’s market threatens to shrink. Darlington believes the pivot point for this situation will take place close to the draft. If no progress is made by then, Caserio may be forced concede and get the best offer he can.
With so many needs, he may see future picks as a higher value for his team.
Fellow ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler went so far as to say on Sportscenter that one team may offer their next two entire drafts in exchange for Watson. It sounds like crazy talk but that is where things stand. Would Pace be the sort of man who’d do something like that? Given his aggressive nature, it isn’t a hard sell at all.
Phone in 2021 and 2021, use veteran and undrafted free agency to keep the roster stable, and then return to the draft in 2023. The idea being Watson keeps you competitive during that time with the solid roster they already have.