Chicago Bears: Sticking with Mitchell Trubisky is right move, for now
The Chicago Bears have a need at the quarterback position, but that doesn’t mean that giving Mitchell Trubisky another season is the wrong move.
When Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace announced recently that the Bears were sticking with Mitchell Trubisky as their quarterback, it was met with groans and eye rolls. It has been beaten to death at this point that the team made a colossal mistake (to put it kindly) trading up in the 2017 NFL Draft to take Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson at No. 2 overall.
His inconsistent play and, by proxy, inconsistent tough to watch offense under supposed offensive genius head coach Matt Nagy has been beyond frustrating. However, this is the right move — at least for another season.
For starters, we have to look at Nagy. Throughout 2019, Nagy seemed to get a little too “cute” with his play calling. It seemed that he thought he was too smart for his own good, overthinking everything instead of adjusting the game plan to fit Trubisky’s strengths or capitalize on the multitude of backs including the versatile Tarik Cohen and powerful David Montgomery.
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When questioned in post-game pressers regarding his play-calling, Nagy would go on the defensive, leading to last year’s Coach of the Year coming off as being above the questioning from the media.
Now that the Coach of the Year glow has shined off and run its course, Nagy can get back to the basics of what made him the NFL’s Coach of the Year in the first place and also Trubisky a Pro Bowler (people forget that).
The other main factor to look at is the fact that their alternatives are limited. The Bears do not have a first-round pick thanks to the Khalil Mack trade, so it isn’t like they can use their wildly mediocre season to their advantage come draft time. They do, however, have two second-rounders, so they could maybe swoop in late and hope that Jordan Love or Jacob Eason falls and they snag one via trade.
They could even stay put and possibly land Jalen Hurts. Problem is, they could be seen as projects in their own right, and there’s no guarantee they’re even available. So it may be better to try and finish their own project in Trubisky.
Aside from the draft, there’s free agency. The Bears can pretty much give up on trading for Cam Newton at this point and trading for Andy Dalton would be just baffling. But there is the thought of who hits the open market this spring.
We can pretty much rule out Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Dak Prescott for now. While they all are due to be free agents, it’s unlikely they actually hit the open market, as of this moment but things can always change.
If they want to stay the veteran route, there is also Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. But at this point in their respective careers, how much of an upgrade from Trubisky would they possibly be?
Elsewhere, other expected free-agent quarterbacks should include Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill of the Tennessee Titans, Teddy Bridgewater of the New Orleans Saints, Case Keenum of the Washington Redskins and Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tennessee will most likely re-sign Tannehill, leaving Mariota, who is essentially a clone of Trubisky at this point in his career. Keenum has regressed tremendously since catching lightning in a bottle in 2017 with the Minnesota Vikings.
Bridgewater, meanwhile, has been to the playoffs as a starter and looked good backing up Brees this season with a 5-1 record. However, the Bears would have to pay top dollar for a potential huge gamble on a quarterback who has excelled with fantastic rosters around him.
Winston would be interesting. While he is Brett Favre-level exciting since every throw is either a 60-yard touchdown or pick-six, it’d be hard for the Bears justifying that signing if Trubisky’s consistency is their No. 1 concern. This is emphasized by the fact that Winston reportedly wants $30 million. Besides, Tampa may re-sign him anyway, making it a moot point.
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All in all, while it may be frustrating, it is better for the Nagy and the Bears to work with Trubisky another season and see what they can get out of him. If it doesn’t work, they can always look to the 2021 draft where Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields will be coming out and the Bears will have a first-rounder to play with. Staying with Trubisky is the right call, for now.