The Chicago Bears remain committed to Mitch Trubisky. They aren’t blind. They know the 25-year old is struggling mightily and looks like he’s lost all of the confidence and swagger he ended 2018 with. He seems completely overwhelmed at times and Matt Nagy is doing everything in his power to help him. Eight games remain this season, so there’s still time. Playing against the Detroit Lions and their 31st-ranked pass defense on Sunday might help.
That said, many believe the Bears could go hunting for veteran help in 2020. Either to start outright or compete with Trubisky for the job. Plenty of names are getting thrown around as possibilities including Teddy Bridgewater, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and Marcus Mariota. All have varying degrees of intrigue but also red flags. Then again most quarterbacks who reach the open market have question marks about them.
So is one of those names the best choice for Chicago? Not according to Dan Pompei of The Athletic. He spoke to a couple of front office men around the league about the Bears QB situation and who they might target next March. The one name that surprisingly got the most positive response?
Case Keenum.
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“He has great intangibles,” front office man No. 1 said. “There isn’t a better pro in the league and he’d be good for Trubisky. He’s a winner. But he needs to have a running game and good weapons around him. His biggest issue has been negative plays at times. He’s gotten better over the years, but he sometimes tries to do too much.”
Chicago Bears would at least have more steadiness in Keenum
Keep in mind they do not claim that Keenum is their long-term answer. They see more of a bridge quarterback who can buy the Bears some time until they can find that next young arm. He’s 32-years old next February and will likely be playing for his fourth team in four seasons. In spite of this, he’s actually played pretty well with an 89.8 passer rating since 2017. That includes four 4th quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives. The guy isn’t some shlub masquerading as a starter.
If the Bears wanted a cheap veteran option who could give Trubisky legitimate competition next summer, this is probably the guy they want. Even if he were to lose, the Bears would have a capable backup who can step in as the starter if needed with far more promise than Chase Daniel ever could. Much of how this plays out depends on what Trubisky does over the remaining eight games. If it’s bad enough, then the Bears might end up aiming higher than Keenum.
