Chicago Bears: No fans, Eli Manning is not the answer

Rumors have been spreading for weeks about the Chicago Bears’ interest in New York Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning. For many reasons, their interest doesn’t make much sense.

The Chicago Bears have struggled through five weeks on offense, and that has not sat well with Bears’ coach Matt Nagy and Bears’ general manager Ryan Pace. This frustration has turned fans into arm-chair general managers who think they can “fix” the Bears’ offensive struggles. Instead of the truth of a beat-up offensive line and a stalling running game, they would rather blame the most important player on the field, Mitchell Trubisky.

A lot of rumors are pointing at the Bears’ interest in New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. The 38-year-old Manning won’t fix “everything”, in fact, he might just make everything worse.

Comparing Manning and Trubisky from their 2018 season says all you need to know. Manning last season went 5-11 as a starter and threw 21 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. Trubisky last season went 11-3 as a starter and threw 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

The stats are close but Manning does have two games on Trubisky and was just below him statically. The most important stat was winning, Trubisky blows Manning out of the water with an 11-3 record, it just isn’t even close.

There are no outstanding differences between the two statically. Athletically, Trubisky is the way better athlete. He can run with the ball and doesn’t turn the ball over, as Manning has done throughout the last few seasons. Manning isn’t a career-winner, besides his two super bowl seasons, he has a winning percentage of under .500, that is noteworthy.

Okay so Manning doesn’t have better stats than Trubisky, he doesn’t move like Trubisky, he is 38-years-old, where is the benefit of having him?

Manning doesn’t know the offense, his arm isn’t what it used to be, and he is close to retirement. You’re getting a washed-up quarterback who is making over $20,000,000 this season, there are no benefits to having him.

Let’s just say Ryan Pace is serious about this and it just isn’t all talk from annoying fans. Manning’s contract has a no-trade clause, he would need to want to leave his life in New York to be apart of the Bears for half a season. It’s hard to imagine he would want to leave, the only attractive thing Chicago has to offer is their chance to win a championship this season.

I wouldn’t trade for Manning, to begin with, but if Trubisky was out for the rest of the season, I would be all for it. Manning’s trade value is way down, he is worth a fourth-round draft pick, in my opinion. He is probably leaving New York next season, to begin with, so at least the Giants would be getting something out of it, but is that an attractive offer for their front office to even consider? Probably not, that doesn’t seem realistic.

I am not sure how much any team would have to give up for Manning but it might not even be worth it. He is older, doesn’t have much left in the tank, and might not even give you a solid player. I am personally out of the Manning business, it would be a mistake to trade for him.

Giving up on Trubisky this early into his career would be a huge mistake. Let him ride out his rookie contract and then make your full decision. The Bears will never get Trubisky as cheap as they have him now. Ride out the next year before they make the switch at quarterback.

Trubisky is getting so much hate right now and he hasn’t even gotten a chance to redeem himself. Everyone needs to calm down and see what happens after the bye week.