Chicago Bears need to make a splash at quarterback this offseason

The Chicago Bears haven’t had a franchise quarterback in a very long time. That needs to change this offseason.

The hit and miss of drafting Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick in 2017 can’t scare the Chicago Bears off from making another massive move this offseason. This is a franchise that hasn’t had a franchise quarterback since Jim McMahon in the 1980s and desperately needs one.

The Bears made it to the playoffs last season but it wasn’t because of their quarterbacks. Trubisky wasn’t awful but flamed out in the Wild Card loss to the Saints. Nick Foles has his moments, but for the most part, is a better backup option than he is as a starter.

With two big quarterback trades already happening, the Bears are running out of opportunities to find their guy. They missed out on both Carson Wentz and Matthew Stafford (though, let’s be real, the Lions probably had no desire to trade him to a division rival), so there are two quarterbacks off the board for Chicago.

The Chicago Bears need to make some magic happen… and fast.

Russell Wilson, who is clearly unhappy with his current team, listed the Bears as somewhere he’d like to play. He’d fit in well there, as the Bears have a really good defense and the offensive line is certainly better than his unit in Seattle. The Bears should be offering a king’s ransom to get Wilson to Chicago because he’d take them from a fringe playoff team to a Super Bowl contender.

Deshaun Watson is also unhappy with his current team, but that situation is a little more complex. Watson’s team has no interest in trading him and if that holds, then he’ll be a Texan in 2021 whether he wants to be or not. If the Texans do decide that trading Watson is most beneficial for them, the Bears have a rare opportunity to go back and right a wrong. They passed on Watson in the 2017 NFL Draft and trading for him would make it right with the fans.

If neither of those two quarterbacks are on the trade block, the Bears have to do something in the draft. Because they made the playoffs, the Bears aren’t in a premiere position to draft a franchise quarterback. They’re currently armed with the No. 20 overall pick and they’re not getting any decent talent in that spot, at least not at the quarterback position.

Trevor Lawrence definitely isn’t an option here, but if the Bears really want to land a franchise signal-caller, they’re going to have to jump into the top 10, much like the Chiefs did in 2017 to draft Patrick Mahomes (and the Chiefs went from 28 to 10, a much bigger jump than that of what Chicago would have to do).

This is the kind of move the Bears are going to have to do if they want to find a good quarterback. Justin Fields or Zach Wilson could change the course of this franchise forever. Do the Chicago Bears have what it takes to make a move and land one of them?