The Bears and GM Ryan Pace have given fans an interesting offseason to talk about. He signed the once-great tight end Jimmy Graham to a two-year deal, he inked pass rush specialist Robert Quinn to a five-year agreement, and traded a fourth-round pick for Jaguars quarterback and former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
There’s no doubt that Ryan Pace will be in the hot seat during the upcoming season and his job security will likely come down to the success or failure of these offseason acquisitions.
With all that in play for the upcoming season, former bears defensive end, Alex Brown, joined The Carmen and Jurko Show Thursday afternoon on ESPN 1000 and had some interesting thoughts regarding the likely quarterback competition between Foles and Mitch Trubisky.
“If it is a competition, I don’t think there’s any way that Mitch wins it. To be honest. I don’t need any more from Mitch. I’ve seen enough and I don’t believe he will beat out Foles in a quarterback competition. I just don’t…I think there’s certain things that Mitch can’t do.”
“As fas as understanding pre-snap stuff, understanding what the defense is trying to do to you, understanding where you need to go with the football, I think Mitch still struggles with that… You shouldn’t be struggling with that in my opinion in your fourth year… If it is a quarterback competition, Foles is going to win and he’ll be the starter come week one.”
Brown also didn’t hesitate to criticize Pace’s decision to sign Graham to a two-year $16 million contract with $9 million in guaranteed money.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
“I was down in New Orleans with Jimmy Graham when he first came into the league. He was a monster. He was just learning the game and my gosh, you knew you he was going to be something else. I know he’s going to go out and he’s going to try hard, don’t get me wrong, but the Jimmy Graham that we saw down in New Orleans, he’s not going to be that guy. Just looking at what he did in Seattle and looking at what he did with Aaron Rodgers up in Green Bay… If he only did a little over 400 yards in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers, what do you think he’s going to do here?”
You don’t need to be a former player to share Brown’s thoughts on Graham especially when Pace could have gone after a younger tight end like Eric Ebron for less of a cap hit. Brown, however, was a fan of Pace’s decision to acquire Robert Quinn.
“I think Quinn is going to be phenomenal opposite Khalil Mack and Akeem Hicks. I think he’s going to be a huge addition to the defensive side and then it helps the back end. It helps the safeties it helps the corners, so you can get to the quarterback with your front four and you don’t have to blitz, it just makes the defense that much better.”
It’s hard to argue with Brown’s assessment of these signings and his opinion on Trubisky. When the 2020 season is all said and done, Ryan Pace had better hope that his decisions in free agency and in the upcoming draft all come together for him or the Bears will likely be hunting for a new General Manager once again.
