Even as the quarterback situation unfolds this offseason for the Chicago Bears, there is a strong fringe group of fans calling on the team to bring back Mitch Trubisky. The reasons for them are obvious. He’s still young. He was playing good football towards the end of 2020. It’s likely he’d return on a cheap deal. Such a move would allow the team to focus their limited resources on further building the offense around him.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is of the belief that the team is likely starting to drift in that direction. Why? Mostly the options on the table, or rather lack thereof. Chicago is stuck in a bit of a no-mans-land this offseason. They don’t have much spending money. They don’t have a high 1st round pick. Their head coach and GM are both on the hot seat, so luring any noteworthy name there is an added challenge. Sticking it out one more year with Trubisky might be their best play.
It’s a matter of whether they can convince fans it’s the right call.
Rest assured, the majority of Bears fans are done with Trubisky. They’ve seen it through four seasons now. They saw the peak in 2018 and the mostly mediocrity since then. Yes, he played better late last season but that was against an array of atrocious defenses. The moment he ran into actual good teams like the Packers and Saints? He struggled.
Nothing about Trubisky says anything other than “average” at this point. He’s got mobility and has some improvisational skills. Yet when it comes to reading a defense and executing at a high level against good teams? He’s routinely shown he can’t do it.
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Smart money says a Mitch Trubisky return doesn’t happen
For a variety of reasons. Head coach Matt Nagy hasn’t come right out and said it, but there are plenty of indications he’s seen all he needs to see from the young quarterback. He gave it three years. Things never quite took off as hoped. It’s hard to imagine he’d sign off on putting his job back in Trubisky’s hands. To say nothing of whispers that the quarterback may not even want to be back anyway.
Maybe desperation leads to this move. Dance with the devil you know rather than the one you don’t. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Bears not trying something different. They may not land a star but at least trying to upgrade should be their goal. Going back to Mitch Trubisky would come across as an admission of defeat.
Could a miracle happen and he gets them back to the playoffs?
Anything is possible. Yet looking at the Bears’ 2021 schedule, it doesn’t feel like an offense led by him will be able to keep up with the majority of opponents they’ll face. They can’t bet on the defense ranking in the top 10 again. They have to start finding ways to score points. For that, they need a quarterback. A better quarterback.