Chicago Bears free agency: Make a move for Tyrod Taylor

While many clamor for the Chicago Bears to go after Jimmy Garoppolo, Tony Romo, or just draft a quarterback, the best move may be to go after Tyrod Taylor. He is a highly rated quarterback, and he protects the ball, something they’ve been sorely lacking recently.

Everyone knows that the Chicago Bears need a quarterback. They will part ways with Jay Cutler, via either trade or just by releasing him. The question they have is who the team gets to be their new signal caller.

The prevailing thought is that the Bears go for someone in this year;s draft. Mitch Trubisky, Pat Mahomes, and Brad Kaaya are all linked to the team. Drafting a quarterback and having him take over right away means going through some growing pains, however.

With a veteran coaching staff that just went through a rough 3-13 season, I don’t think John Fox and company want (or survive) another losing campaign. They need a signal caller who can step in and take the reins of the offense. A veteran quarterback can do just that.

Rumors around the league link the Bears with Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo. With deep pockets and attractive draft choices this offseason, they can sign whoever they want (so long as they don’t go crazy).

While the strong indications are one of them, the Bears should go in a different direction — Tyrod Taylor.

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Taylor is a quarterback the Bears could acquire at a bargain price. He is in the same position that Jay Cutler is in — his guaranteed money is paid and his team can score a big cap space increase by trading or cutting him. He makes $15.9 million if the Buffalo Bills keep him, but with a new coaching staff, many don’t see that happening.

Taylor is a dual threat quarterback. He can beat you with his arm or with his legs. Unlike Tony Romo, he’s played in 29 or the Bills’ last 32 games. Unlike Garoppolo’s 94 pass attempts for 690 yards and 5 touchdowns, Taylor has 851 attempts for 6,257 yards and 37 touchdowns. You can also add 1,284 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.

Pro Football Focus wrote about Taylor, and had some interesting tidbits:

"Taylor ended the 2016 regular season with the 10th-best overall grade among all QBs, at 84.7. That’s higher than Alex Smith, Ben Roethlisberger, Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton and—here is the big one—Dak Prescott.Not only does Taylor’s passer rating decline less than that of most players (14.3 points this season), but he has maintained a consistently-high passer rating when pressured over the past two seasons. This year, he recorded a passer rating of 80.1 when hurried; last season, it was 87.6. Those figures rank seventh and fifth in the league, respectively, and represent a QB that can still function at a high level when hurried and moved off his spot."

If you look at the above chart, you see that Taylor’s quarterback rating when under pressure is 80.1. That ranked seventh in the NFL. While some running quarterbacks have the reputation of tucking the ball and running when the pressure gets to them, Taylor doesn’t always do that. He will stay in the pocket, move around, and throw effectively. As the Chicago Bears’ offensive line broke down in 2016, their quarterbacks could not be as successful.

As the Chicago Bears’ offensive line broke down in 2016, their quarterbacks could not be as successful. They threw just 19 touchdowns and had 19 interceptions. As you could see, Taylor had 17 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions. Furthermore, he had 6 more rushing touchdowns.

Additionally, opponents sacked Taylor 42 times in 2016. That number for Bears quarterbacks was 28. As you can see, Taylor definitely handled pressure a lot better than whatever the Bears trotted out in 2016.

Next: Bears' seven-round mock draft

When the season begins, Taylor will be 28 years old. He is in the prime of his career. If the Chicago Bears build the way we expect, he will be an exciting player for years to come. Other teams can have Romo or Garoppolo, I’ll take Tyrod Taylor.

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