Rich Eisen stated a couple of weeks ago on his podcast that Chicago Bears fans need to prepare themselves. Despite how things look with Mitch Trubisky and his ongoing struggles, he is not going anywhere. The 25-year old will be the starter again in 2020 for this team and they must reconcile with this reality. GM Ryan Pace staked his job on that draft pick and Matt Nagy was hired to make him a success. They’re not going to abandon ship when things start to get tough.
Ian Rapoport, the insider for NFL Network seems to have backed up those claims. He appeared on NFL Gameday this morning to update everybody on the Trubisky situation. It seems that while many in the media and fan base have reached their limit with the quarterback’s erratic play, those inside the organization have not. They reportedly still have “serious confidence” in Trubisky. How could something like that be possible under such circumstances?
The answer is simple. Offensive struggles of this nature aren’t just the quarterbacks. Everything around Trubisky isn’t working. It would be one thing if the rest of the offense was playing well and he still played poorly. That is not the case. Nothing has worked this year. The Bears have the 29th ranked rushing attack in the league. Protection-wise they’ve already allowed 30 sacks, putting them on pace for 48. The most that unit has allowed since 2011.
Last but not least, the receivers lead the league in dropped passes and also haven’t been running the right routes a number of times this year.
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Bears clearly think Mitch Trubisky isn’t the biggest issue
In truth, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Trubisky wasn’t going anywhere in 2020. The fourth and final year of his rookie contract is fully guaranteed. He’s going to be on the roster regardless. So this leaves the Bears with a decision. Do they find enough money to sign another quarterback to compete with him or do they use that money and every resource possible in the coming offseason to fix the rest of the roster and make one more go at it with Trubisky at the helm?
Doing it the latter way sounds crazy given how the quarterback has played this year. Nagy and Pace will be on the hot seat from the start. Are they really willing to put their jobs in his hands? It seems that is the case. While that is undoubtedly a spirit breaker for several fans, there is an element of logic behind the idea. By doubling down on Trubisky, the Bears will be able to fortify their roster with as much talent as possible while his contract is still affordable.
If he rebounds and plays great? Fantastic. They can sign him to a long-term extension at that point. If he doesn’t? While disappointing that’s not so bad either. Trubisky will become a free agent and the team will have no big money tied up in that position. Right at the same time, they’ll be back in the 1st round of the draft. So there is a degree of long-term flexibility in mind with such a decision.
Not that it matters to the people who will have to watch it unfold.
