The Chicago Bears treated themselves to a Red Rifle this offseason, bringing in veteran quarterback Andy Dalton on a one-year deal to, presumably, start for the franchise. Assuming he beats out Nick Foles, who was brought in last season to challenge their downward-trending ‘star’ quarterback.
Four years after trading up to draft North Carolina’s one-year wonder Mitch Trubisky, it seems the NVP’s time in Chicago is over. Packers fans have had many a laugh at the Bears not only drafting Trubisky over Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, but that they gave up so much to trade up one spot to do so.
Bears fans told the world how Trubisky was the new top dog of the NFC North and would dethrone Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. That didn’t happen.
The Bears’ mishandling of the quarterback situation didn’t just start four years ago. The fact that Andy Dalton, before even stepping into the Bears’ locker room, is statistically better than the Bears’ previous best starter, Jay Cutler, says a lot about the team.
Chicago, like many teams in their situation, has made short-sighted moves that keep them from finding a true franchise quarterback. The team botched a high draft pick with Mitch Trubisky. They’ve overpaid unproven veterans, as they did in 2017 when they brought in Mike Glennon on a monster deal. Glennon would eventually be benched in favor of Trubisky. The team brought in a veteran to challenge their young star, as they did with Nick Foles. And now the team has a gap option in Andy Dalton, whose deal is only a one-year. And this is just since Jay Cutler left.
To be fair, the Bears did want to try to acquire Russell Wilson, who is actually good most of the time, but they were told he was not available.
The team hasn’t had a good quarterback, but the Bears do just well enough regardless to not be in a good position to draft a franchise option. The powers-at-be in Chicago right now are so focused on their own jobs that they keep making short-sighted moves.
Now, this is a Packers’ site. Is this post just to laugh at the misfortunes of a rival? A bit, but the point is to provide context on how not to handle finding a franchise quarterback.
The old adage “the worst time to find a quarterback is when you need one” is wise, and one need look no further than to our friends in Chicago to see why.
Aaron Rodgers just won his third MVP award and was drafted while the Packers already had a HoF quarterback. Maybe Jordan Love is a future Hall of Famer. Maybe he’s bad. We don’t know. But why wait until Rodgers is retired or hurt to look to the future? Anything can happen in the NFL. Remember when Brett Hundley had to start for most of 2017? That wasn’t very fun.
The Bears are a picturesque example of why looking ahead is never a bad thing. Once again, the Bears have botched their quarterback situation. The Packers have largely stayed ahead of the NFC rivals by not making boneheaded, short-sighted decisions. Whether Jordan Love works out or not, the Chicago Bears remain a cautionary tale on why teams should not remain complacent when it comes to the game’s most important position.
Matt Hendershott is a Packers fan and Miller High Life enthusiast from Northwest Ohio. He has a Master of Arts in Media and Communication from Bowling Green State University. You can follow him on Twitter @MattHendershott.
3 responses to “Bears botch QB decision again, provide cautionary tale”
Or, look at the vikings. In a constant cycle of overpaying for has beens, never weres, or never will be’s.
Finally, thank you for an article that hit’s home, spot on! I have been arguing (even tho many do agree) with the Packer fans who are near sighted about this subject on last years draft. We had a great draft last year by preparing for what could of happened if we lost Aaron to injury, Boyle would have been the guy with Love to back up, worst case scenario Love gets some playing time. Dillon now seasoned will be a monster this coming year as the number 2, loved Williams but foresight happens. We need to address CB, OL, someone beside Clark and LB in draft and FA. Hopefully a speed WR, big Christmas list for sure! Go Pack!