Chicago Bears: Would Mike Glennon Even be an Improvement Over Jay Cutler?
Would rumored Chicago Bears target Mike Glennon be an improvement over Jay Cutler at quarterback?
The Chicago Bears are clearly in the market for a quarterback this off season. Jimmy Garoppolo has been mentioned as an option, but he may not actually be available. The Bears could certainly take a signal caller with the third overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, but there is undoubtedly some risk there.
The most recent rumor has the Bears among the favorites for free agent quarterback Mike Glennon. Glennon is a 27-year-old quarterback who has been Jameis Winston’s backup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneeers for the last two seasons.
However, before the Bucs drafted Winston, Glennon had an opportunity to prove himself on the field. A majority of his playing time came as a rookie in 2013, but Glennon has strong career number. He completed nearly 60% of his career passes for 4,100 yards, 30 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions. Not bad for the former third-round selection out of North Carolina State.
Glennon is a big-armed quarterback who entered the league with concerns about his lack of mobility and issues with turnovers. You do not have to see much of Glennon to know that he is not a mobile quarterback, but turnovers have not really been an issue. At least in this limited sample size.
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That is the biggest issue I have with the Bears targeting Glennon. He is still pretty much a complete unknown. His success was a small sample size and has now been a long time ago. Maybe he has gotten better, maybe he has gotten worse. Nobody can say for sure because we haven’t seen him on the field.
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Glennon is not the worst option to be the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears next off season, but he would not be my first choice.
The real question here is: does Glennon makes them closer to being competitive than Jay Cutler? Because if he doesn’t, what’s the point? Cutler is a slightly below league-average quarterback who has a big arm and troubles with turnovers. That is probably what we would be looking at with Glennon under center.
That being said, at least with Glennon, there is some unknown. The Bears know what they are getting out of Cutler and it is not pretty. They would have to invest in Glennon to get him in the door, but at least the hint of upside is there.
Honestly, the Bears acquiring Glennon does not excite me much. I can see why it could be an interesting idea, but I would rather they went all-in on Garoppolo or one of the college quarterbacks. When it comes down to it, I doubt that Glennon puts them much closer to being legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
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If that is the case, then what is the point? Ryan Pace and company would be better off taking a shot at a player with more upside.