The Bears need Cam Newton or Philip Rivers next year
By John Buhler
Mitchell Trubisky is so far from the answer at quarterback for the Chicago Bears. They need to land either Cam Newton or Philip Rivers next year.
It’s not going to change until the Chicago Bears own up their mistake and make a change at the quarterback position. This should be the last year that Mitchell Trubisky should be the team’s starting quarterback. He plays with no confidence and this team with a great defense won’t be playing in the postseason this year largely because of it. They have to move on in 2020.
With the Bears trading their 2020 first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for defensive end Khalil Mack ahead of last season, Chicago can only upgrade their quarterback position either in free agency or with a day-two or a day-three pick. Since there will be better quarterbacks available in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bears need to test the quarterback free agency market this offseason.
There are a few quarterbacks that could be available this spring, such as Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers. Both quarterbacks have been to multiple Pro Bowls, but may be in the last year with their respective teams.
Newton’s health has made him potentially expendable in Charlotte, while Los Angeles may have no interest in Rivers moving with them to SoFi Stadium next season. Then again, Rivers may not want to live in Los Angeles anyway. He still commutes to San Diego every day after the team moved two hours north two years ago.
At the end of the day, the Bears need to go the stop-gap route for their quarterbacking issues in 2020. We should expect them to find someone like Ryan Tannehill, who is in his first season with the Tennessee Titans after spending most of the decade with the Miami Dolphins. Of course, Newton could be back in Carolina, as Kyle Allen hasn’t done a great job of late replacing him.
Newton would be a great fit in Matt Nagy’s offense and would give the Bears offense the dynamism it clearly lacks with Trubisky running it. Rivers would provide stability, but it does feel like a long shot that he’ll move his entire family to Chicago this offseason. If he is going to leave California, it’s more likely to be for a team in a southern climate near his native Alabama.
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There are other free-agent quarterbacks on the market next year potentially, like Marcus Mariota of the Titans, Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Teddy Bridgewater of the New Orleans Saints. Maybe one of these three could work in Chicago temporarily?
Ultimately, the Bears must move on and have a new starting signal-caller for the 2020 NFL season.