Bears trade for Nick Foles means end of Mitch Trubisky

The Chicago Bears’ trade for Nick Foles says they have no faith in Mitchell Trubisky. In short, the Windy City is done with its young quarterback.

The Bears can say whatever they’d like in the ensuing press conferences and releases concerning their trade for Nick Foles.

They can talk about upgrading the quarterback room at the meager cost of a fourth-round pick. They can speak of competition being healthy.

It’s all bull. Mitchell Trubisky is done in Chicago, and everybody familiar with how pro football works knows it.

The Bears traded for Foles because Trubisky gave them no reason not to.

Trubisky is entering his fourth season, and the early returns have been poor. Despite a division title in his second year, the Bears have largely sidestepped his considerable flaws with great defense and getting by in the run game. Last year, when the defense slightly regressed and the rushing attack dried up, Chicago went 7-9 in a miserable campaign.

The Bears understand that with Trubisky under center, they have no margin for error. Head coach Matt Nagy is one of the league’s most creative offensive minds, but to make sure his quarterback doesn’t sink the team, he needs to be ultra-conservative.

Whether acquiring Foles changes any of the above paragraph save for swapping out names remains to be seen, but there’s always hope in change. There’s no hope in Trubisky.

General manager Ryan Pace knew Trubisky being the starting quarterback come Week 1 was an anchor on both him and the fans. Nobody could reasonably sell optimism with him back under center, and so Foles and his bloated contract — which will reportedly be restructured — came to town.

Whether Trubisky remains on the roster into and throughout training camp is unknown, but it also makes no difference. Starting Trubisky after all this would be a disaster both from a public relations standpoint and with the players, who all know which quarterback gives them the better chance to win.

Even if the Bears want to play the game of an open competition, the deck is clearly stacked.

The Foles trade doesn’t fix the problem, but it covers the mistake up for now.