With Mitch Trubisky continuing to look incompetent, here are five quarterbacks the Chicago Bears could get during the offseason.
Coming off a Week 6 bye, Mitch Trubisky returned under center for the Chicago Bears against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. His numbers didn’t look that bad (34-for-54 for 251 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and neither did the final score in a 36-25 loss.
But the Bears scored the final 15 points of the game to narrow it to an 11-point loss, and before those final two scoring drives Trubisky’s numbers were dreadful. The Bears did not run the ball at all, or could not yet again as an opponent forced Trubisky to beat them through the air, with 17 yards on seven carries. They have yet to put up 300 yards of offense in a game this season, which feels impossible in this age of the NFL. Head coach Matt Nagy deserves some criticism as the play caller, but he hasn’t even been able to get what he got at times last year out of a limited quarterback.
Barring injury, or a surprising trade in the next eight days, Trubisky is going to be the Bears’ starting quarterback for the rest of this year. As a practical matter, he’ll be on the roster in 2020 as well. Cutting him would create a dead money hit of $9.2 million and clear no cap space (via Spotrac). A trade would soften that blow by almost half ($4.813 million in dead money), with the remainder coming off the cap. While there may be a team out there who thinks they can fix Trubisky, a late-round pick feels like the most likely return in a trade.
The perception of Trubisky is further hurt by the Bears’ decision to trade up one pick to get him, and the fact Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were drafted after him. But he simply isn’t getting it done, and he’s not good enough to overcome issues around him.
The Bears could cut bait and look to replace Trubisky during the offseason, as much as it might hurt financially. Another path is to bring in some legit competition for him, rather than someone like current backup Chase Daniel, with a decision to decline his fifth-year option for 2021 all but certain.
Barring a turnaround over the rest of this season, something has to give regarding Trubisky. Here are five quarterbacks the Bears could get during the offseason.
5. Colin Kaepernick
Any conversation about a team adding a quarterback, however unrealistic it seems since he hasn’t played since 2016 along with any possibility a directive has come from the league office not to sign him, has to include Kaepernick. He has apparently been working out in an effort to show he’s ready to play, while awaiting a serious call from an NFL team.
If Bears general manager Ryan Pace acknowledges his Trubisky mistake and starts to survey quarterback options, his list out of the gate has to include Kaepernick. That’s not to say he’ll be signed, but having him in for a workout would seem to be good due diligence.