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The Chicago Bears traded for Nick Foles this offseason, but Mitch Trubisky isn’t giving his job away.
Mitch Trubisky is down, but as the saying goes, not out.
After seeing Chicago slide to an 8-8 record last year after winning the NFC North in 2018, Chicago general manager Ryan Pace made a bold move. In March, the Bears traded a fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Nick Foles, a player whose contract runs through 2022. Meanwhile, Pace told the world what he thinks of Trubisky, declining his fifth-year option in May.
Mitch Trubisky is going to fight Nick Foles for Bears starting job
To his credit, though, Trubisky isn’t talking like a defeated man. When speaking to reporters on Friday, the fourth-year quarterback claimed he was “pissed off in a good way” about the team acquiring Foles while saying he’s motivated to win the job come training camp.
Trubisky will need to prove himself and then some to keep his job both for 2020 and the long term. As aforementioned, the former No. 2 overall pick is scheduled for free agency in 2021 while Foles has guaranteed money over each of the next three campaigns. To keep Trubisky — let alone start him — will mean he significantly outplayed Foles this summer and beyond.
Last season, Trubisky threw for 3,138 yards and 17 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in 15 games. Obviously, in today’s pass-happy NFL, those numbers are below-average across the board.
If Chicago is going to jump the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings en route to the NFC North crown, Trubisky (or Foles) will need to ascend to a completely different level.