In 2017, the Chicago Bears traded up to select Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick. Three years later, the guy who general manager Ryan Pace and co. wanted to be their franchise quarterback is now fighting for his chance to start Week 1 in Detroit.
The Bears brought in former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles in exchange for a fourth-round pick from the Jacksonville Jaguars to compete with the third-year man out of North Carolina. In hindsight, this move was the precursor to the Bears declining the fifth-year option of Trubisky.
While this could spell trouble for the UNC product, the opportunity will be for there for him to start.
In an unlikely scenario, Trubisky will win the job, have the job in a stranglehold with his play, and possibly lead the Bears to a division title or Wild Card berth.
But that is just scenario No. 1.
Scenario No. 2 includes Trubisky losing the job to Foles and not seeing a snap for the entire 2020 season.
Regardless of which scenario pans out, things will get tricky.
So, if the second scenario takes place, the most that will happen is the lazy takes of the Bears passing up on both Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.
However, the first scenario leaves the Bears in a tough spot. If Trubisky excels, will the Bears pay him what the market demands? Or does Pace—if he is still the general manager at that point—test the market and the draft?
Remember Jay Cutler?
This is familiar territory for the Bears. In 2014, they opened the pocketbook for then-active quarterback Jay Cutler, signing him to a seven-year, $126 million deal. After Cutler’s $54 million guaranteed kicked in, he was released.
A lot of Cutler’s release was injury-related and the fact that he never hit the ceiling that Bears brass wanted him to hit.
The moral here is that the Bears can not take another risk on a quarterback that has been consistently inconsistent. Especially with the Packers still being a solid team, the Vikings improving via the draft, and the Lions being healthy at the very least, the Bears cannot mess this up.
This team has had a long and mediocre history of missing on quarterbacks. Now, they can not miss with the talent on this team.
But can Trubisky win the job?
There is no doubt that Trubisky can win the job. The biggest question is this: will the Bears be getting mediocre Jaguars version of Foles, or will they welcome streaky, big-play Foles? That will be the deciding factor.
Another major caveat is that Foles is already acclimated with the system of Matt Nagy and the tutelage of quarterbacks coach John Defilippo. That alone puts Trubisky behind the eight ball, considering there are people who believe he is not entuned with the playbook enough.
However, all of those obstacles that needed to be overcome would make Trubisky winning the job a lot more impressive. Regardless, the Bears have a decision to make and it is just a matter of whether or not they will make the right one.
