One can understand the feelings of Ryan Pace. He invested a lot in Mitch Trubisky as the future of the Chicago Bears franchise. He did it with conviction and belief that everything would work out in time. The GM must’ve been so excited after 2018. Trubisky reached a Pro Bowl and had one of the better passing seasons in Bears history. Not that it was a hard bar to clear. Still, it felt like the light was finally at the end of the tunnel for this QB-starved organization.
Then 2019 happened.
Trubisky regressed in every area. He failed to make even the easier completions with consistency. He stopped running like he used to and just couldn’t seem to handle the pressure at times. Most franchise quarterbacks are expected to lift the offense out of prolonged slumps. It felt instead like Trubisky was often the cause of it. Something that was made even more depressing by the fact it was his third season and his second in Matt Nagy’s offense.
Three years in and the progress just hasn’t shown. Not nearly enough for a former #2 overall pick. This is why many are calling for change. Pace is clearly reluctant due to a personal stake in the player. Here’s the thing though.
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He’ll likely never have a better chance to find an easy exit from his mistake than this year.
Chicago Bears must realize 2020 free agent QB class is rare
If this were any other offseason, keeping Trubisky would likely make sense for the Bears. Traditionally, free agency is a dead area for the quarterback position. Combine that with no 1st round pick in the draft and they’d have few viable options. That is not the case in 2020. Due to a rather incredible series of circumstances, this upcoming crop of names is easily the biggest and deepest the NFL has seen in modern history.
You have two future Hall of Famers in Tom Brady and Philip Rivers. Some current or former Pro Bowlers in Dak Prescott and Ryan Tannehill. Then the former 1st round picks who have played well at times in the past like Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, and Jameis Winston. Last but not least is the longtime veteran who once went to a conference championship in Case Keenum.
This isn’t even counting possible trade targets like Andy Dalton, Derek Carr, Nick Foles, and Cam Newton. The options for a QB-needy team are plentiful. Yet by the sound of things, the Bears are content to settle for one of the less desired targets like a Dalton or Keenum. Guys with plenty of experience but minimal odds of actually get much more out of the most important position on the roster.
It would be such a Bears move.
An unwillingness to be bold when the market presents them with an opportunity that never comes around. Especially this day and age. Remember they passed on chances to sign Kurt Warner and draft Aaron Rodgers in 2005. Stubbornness with a previous quarterback who isn’t working out as hoped is nothing new.
Unless Pace decides to alter this trend in just over a week, he’ll likely feel the same emptiness previous Bears GMs did when they showed faith in “their guys.”
