Chicago Bears: Team needs to invest in a backup quarterback

After three preseason games, it’s clear that the Chicago Bears need to invest in a backup quarterback.

For the first time in forever, the Chicago Bears have an actual franchise quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky. However, the Bears still have a problem at the quarterback position: A serviceable backup.

Despite having Chase Daniel on the roster, he’s not a legitimate backup quarterback for multiple reasons. First, when the Bears signed Daniel last offseason, they did so in order to ensure that Daniel would be a mentor until Trubisky mastered the offense.

Now that Trubisky heads into the second year of the same offense, it’s clear that he’s more comfortable with the way the offense runs. However, should Trubisky go down with an injury, it’s clear that the Bears cannot rely on Daniel to win games or run the offense with the consistency that Trubisky does.

Through three preseason games, Daniel is 26-40 on passing attempts and has yet to throw a touchdown. He’s also failed to consistently move the offense, sometimes even stalling drives meaning that it’s hard to tell which second and third-string playmakers have a legitimate chance at making the Bears roster.

What the Bears need to do here is follow the method that teams like the New England Patriots do. The Patriots seem to draft a quarterback on day three of the NFL Draft every year, develop them, and then try to use them as trade bait.

The advantage of having a young backup quarterback is the fact that Matt Nagy and the Bears coaching staff can groom said player into the type of quarterback the Bears need. Luckily for the Bears, the 2020 NFL Draft is set to feature some interesting quarterbacks that could be ideal fits for the Bears.

A major reason the Bears need to part with Daniel is because of the large salary he’s going to earn in 2019. Per Spotrac, Daniel is set to earn a salary of four-million dollars in 2019. However, the most that he can make due to roster bonuses would be six million dollars. Since the Bears are heading towards a salary cap crunch beginning in 2020, they’ll need to find a backup who’s cheaper than Daniel’s price.

Overall, Daniel’s shaky play this preseason and his large price tag are a major reason that the Bears need to invest in another backup quarterback. In any preseason game, Daniel doesn’t need to lead to offense to the point where he’s scoring 30 points a game, he just needs to be consistent enough to the point where the offense is moving the ball and playmakers are getting a chance to make plays.