Bears officials have seen enough of Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback. Signing Teddy Bridgewater would give Chicago a massive upgrade.
Matt Nagy has spent much of his tenure with the Bears trying to elevate Mitchell Trubisky’s play at the quarterback position. Those days may soon be over. If Chicago successfully lands Teddy Bridgewater in free agency then Nagy is going to have a new player to trigger his offense.
According to ProFootballTalk, the two sides are locked in negotiations about a deal that would pay Bridgewater somewhere around $21 million per season. The Bears aren’t going to pay Bridgewater that kind of money to be Trubisky’s backup.
Bridgewater was unable to beat out Drew Brees to become the starter in New Orleans, but he did put up a 5-0 record as the team’s backup in 2019. His accuracy during that tenure will be really appealing to Nagy and his coaching staff. Bridgewater completed just under 68 percent of his passes last year in Sean Payton’s offense.
Bears officials will also be excited to employ a quarterback who takes care of the football. Bridgewater only threw two interceptions compared to nine touchdown passes last season. That ratio is a significant improvement over Trubisky’s totals of 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Don’t look for the Bears to change their offense much if they do go with Bridgewater as the starter. He may not be quite as mobile as Trubisky, but he’s still got the ability to make throws on the run. Bootlegs and play action fakes should remain staples of the Chicago offense no matter who is under center when the regular season begins.
Trubisky isn’t going to suddenly be put on the trade block due to a Bridgewater signing either. The Bears will feel comfortable going forward with him as a high-priced backup in the immediate future. The franchise might listen to trade calls on Trubisky, but they won’t be in a hurry to ship him out-of-town.
Signing Bridgewater to a fair market deal still goes down as a big win for the Bears. The rest of their roster appears primed and ready for Super Bowl contention. The addition of a quarterback they can count on to play above average football in 2020 catapults them right into the group of NFL contenders. That’s something the franchise couldn’t say with Trubisky at the helm.