Chicago Bears must draft a developmental QB in 2020

The Chicago Bears absolutely must draft a developmental quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft.

I can only imagine what the comments from Chicago Bears fans will look like in response to this article. Go ahead and take a look. I’m guessing there will be a few fans who will skewer this article without actually reading it, assuming the point of this piece is to call for Mitchell Trubisky‘s replacement. Spoiler alert — it’s not.

Granted, Trubisky played incredibly poorly last week against the Green Bay Packers, disappointing a fervent fan base who spent all offseason getting lathered up for a Super Bowl run. But one game does not a season make and there is a lot of football left — starting with this weekend’s contest against the Denver Broncos.

But as people littered Twitter with ridiculous comments like calling for Tyler Bray to start, it did cause me to examine the current quarterback depth chart. Once I did, the one thing that became vividly clear was that the Bears absolutely must draft a developmental quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft.

For starters, Chase Daniel‘s contract expires after this season, meaning they are set to lose their current backup. It’s also unlikely they will pay him the $5 million his current two-year contract averaged per season — especially with their salary cap space being limited and a number of upcoming contract extensions to consider.

Perhaps they could elevate Bray, but at this point, he is what he is and has reached his ceiling, and I’m not sure it’s good enough to be one snap away from starting.

Drafting a quarterback gives the Bears the option of having a cheap backup, but with potential to be even better than that. The reality is quarterbacks are currency in this league, and having a good one provides a potential trade chip down the road. Teams pay handsomely for quarterbacks with limited NFL experience (see Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Flynn, et al). Having a quality quarterback on your roster whom you could hold as ransom over a quarterback-needy team is certainly not a bad thing.

In addition, with the quality offensive minds this team has on its coaching staff (Matt Nagy, Mark Helfrich, and Dave Ragone), there is no reason to think that they couldn’t turn their pick into a serviceable or better signal-caller.

Finally, one of Mitch’s greatest strengths is his ability to run. However, it also subjects him to more hits and a greater chance of injury. Having a quality backup would provide insurance against injury. While Daniel is alright in a pinch, he clearly has his limitations. It would be even better if the Bears can get a young quarterback with more potential who they can mold in their system. Now, let the uninformed comments commence.