Chicago Bears: Mike Glennon a Sleeper Free Agent QB Target
Jimmy Garoppolo and Tony Romo are quarterbacks linked to the Chicago Bears, but the better target could be one no one is talking about — Mike Glennon.
Since the end of the Chicago Bears season, a lot of things were said about the situation surrounding the quarterback position for the Bears. The contract Jay Cutler is under allows them to get rid of the player without major cap damage and free up money for free agency.
The other two players that started for the Bears this past season will test the free agent market. That’s why a lot of rumors are linking the Bears with a plethora of quarterback options. Trades for Jimmy Garoppolo or Tony Romo are the easiest to find on the internet. There’s also the draft, where the Bears could find another option.
But nobody has talked about Mike Glennon. He could be a sleeper target, if not the best one, for the Bears in 2017. Garoppolo does not have much more experience than Brock Osweiler had when he got that enormous contract last off-season, and we saw what happened with him. Tony Romo has had a lot of injuries in the last few years. Trading for either one will cost a lot for a team that is rebuilding.
With that said, compare Glennon to Romo and Garropolo and you see that he compares favorably, and at a more reasonable cost. Glennon is not Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees, but he can be a reliable player that could drive this team to success. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted him in the third round of the 2013 draft and is now a free agent.
Glennon took the starting job from Josh Freeman in his rookie season and was the starting quarterback for the Bucs until he lost the job to Josh McCown in 2014. McCown and Glennon struggled, and the Bucs ended up with the first overall pick in the draft. Tampa selected Jameis Winston with that pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
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You can say that Glennon did not have much success and that’s why the Bucs were in the position to draft Winston with the first pick, but you’d misjudge the lack of talent that Tampa had when Glennon was their signal caller.
In his four-year career, Glennon has 4,100 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. His numbers aren’t great, but also not horrible. He won’t demand too much money to sign with a team, so he can be a cost-effective option.
The Bears have a lot of cap space, so they can offer Glennon a short-term deal at around $8 million per year, and use the rest of the cap and draft picks to build an offense that gives Glennon opportunities to win games. This could be all that the Bears wish for going forward.
With no sure player in the draft, Glennon could also be a bridge to a younger quarterback. Nathan Peterman from Pittsburgh could be a good third-round option and if he has Glennon on the team he could have time to develop into a good quarterback.
Next: Will there be disappointment if the Bears don't acquire Garoppolo?
Glennon could be a reliable signal caller to play behind a good offense and great defense. He could at least serve as a stop-gap at the position until a young quarterback can step up.