There are a lot of Bears fans out there clamoring for change at the QB position. The majority of what I read and what I hear in regards to our QB options just leaves me shaking my head in a "NOT A CHANCE" kind of way. Being realistic is not something that the average fan can do. I was listening to Mully & Haugh on 670 the Score last week and they seem to propagate these unrealistic expectations. So let's look at the current situation of the other QB needy NFL teams. Let's look at the QB options that are out there. Lastly, lets take a realistic approach to free agency and the draft and see what options the Bears are left with after this game of QB musical chairs.
Please keep in mind the Salary limitations the Bears have and the MAJOR lack of draft picks we have as trade ammunition. First, Trubisky is already counting $9.25 million against the cap this year. Second, due to restructures Kyle Fuller and Khalil Mack will be at 20 mill and 26 mill respectively in 2021 (meaning the Bears are probably going to be tight to the cap for the next 2 maybe even 3 years. Finally, the Bears have a projected $17mill of cap space (according to spotrac) for 2020.... not great but not bad.
THE TEAMS & THE OPTIONS
FIRST OFF, there's no way the Patriots or Saints will move on from Brady or Brees. So you can stop that stupid fantasy RIGHT NOW. I've broken down the OPTIONS into 2020 1st/2nd rd potential picks, Free Agents, and Wild Cards (trade targets). The Steelers and Lions are both rumored to be on the QB hunt (as they should be due to the age/unknown of their current starting QBs). The Raiders and Panthers are in there because most signs point to them moving on from their current starting QBs.
QB1 | QB2 | |
Bears | Trubisky | ??? |
Bengals | Ryan Finley | |
Dolphins | ??? | Josh Rosen |
Steelers | Big Ben | ??? |
Colts | Jacoby Brissett | ??? |
Lions | Matt Stafford | ??? |
Chargers | ??? | ??? |
Raiders | ??? | ??? |
Panthers | Kyle Allen | |
Bucs | ??? | ??? |
Rd 1 QB | Rd 2 QB | FA QB | WC |
Joe Burrow | Jake Fromm | Teddy Bridgewater | Alex Smith |
Tua Tagovailoa | Jacob Eason | Jameis Winston | CJ Beathard |
Justin Herbert | Jalen Hurts | Marcus Mariota | Taysom Hill |
Jordan Love | Phillip Rivers | Josh Rosen | |
Case Keenum | Derek Carr | ||
Fitzmagic | Cam Newton | ||
Andy Dalton |
PLUG & PLAY
This was fun to do. I started by plugging in Burrow, Tua, Herbert, and Love (I'm thinking Chargers trade back to get Love after Raiders trade up with their 2 first rd picks to get Herbert). The Colts & Lions both hold the 2nd & 3rd picks in the 2nd rd respectively and are both big threats to pick a QB. The Colts though have 70 million (most in the league) of projected cap space for 2020. They can sign/acquire who they want. Here I have them trading for Cam Newton and absorbing his big salary. I have the Lions drafting Fromm (or whoever they want). I have the Panthers trading for Derek Carr because they need a stable veteran presence and have the picks to make a deal. I figure Rosen/Fitzmagic stay with the Dolphins (maybe Rosen can be acquired via trade closer to the 2020 season). The Chargers are projected to have $60 Million of cap space in 2020 and can over pay for whoever they want. Here I have them grabbing Dalton to play ahead of Love. The Bucs I think will move on from Jameis Winston and Bruce Arians will go all in on Teddy Bridgewater. The Bears do have a couple of advantages though. Thanks to acquiring the Raiders 2nd rd pick (#43) we pick 2 and 3 spots ahead of Tampa Bay & Pittsburgh in the 2nd rd. SO... that leads us HERE. Check it out.
QB1 | QB2 | |
Bears | Trubisky | ??? |
Bengals | Joe Burrow | Ryan Finley |
Dolphins | Tua Tagoviloa | Josh Rosen/FitzMagic |
Steelers | Big Ben | ??? |
Colts | Jacoby Brisett | Cam Newton |
Lions | Matt Stafford | Jake Fromm |
Chargers | Jordan Love | Andy Dalton |
Raiders | Justin Herbert | Phillip Rivers |
Panthers | Derek Carr | Kyle Allen |
Bucs | Teddy Bridgewater | ??? |
REMAINING OPTIONS
Rd 1 QB | Rd 2 QB | FA QB | WC |
Alex Smith | |||
Jacob Eason | Jameis Winston | CJ Beathard | |
Jalen Hurts | Marcus Mariota | Taysom Hill | |
Josh Rosen | |||
Case Keenum | |||
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So there you are Bears fans. In my humble opinion according to this exercise, these are your options for competition for Trubisky. Jameis Winston and Mariota to me are both such wild cards. It's hard to project what other teams think of them at this point and how much they would command in free agency. Those WC options all would need to be traded for. I bet Taysom Hill would command a first rd pick. Alex Smith comes with HUGE salary implications (SEE HERE) and obvious health concerns. Beathard could bet gotten cheap. He played OK last year when he had to. Eason... that's interesting. Honestly, with these options left I'd just sign Case Keenum or Mariota (if he's cheap enough).
Tell me in the comments, according to my scenario here what's the answer? What are your thoughts? Draft or Free Agent or Wild Card? If Wild Card, who do we give up?