Chicago Bears must inquire about Derek Carr

If a recent report is true, the Chicago Bears must check in on quarterback Derek Carr.

If recent reports are accurate, then the Chicago Bears absolutely must inquire into the availability of Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Raiders will pursue quarterback Tom Brady if he doesn’t re-sign with the New England Patriots before free agency begins.

In fairness, the odds of him doing so may have just gone up significantly, as a separate report from the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Patriots might be willing to pay Brady $30 million per year.

If Brady re-signs, he’s obviously not going to Las Vegas. However, the mere fact that the Raiders appear to be interested in him strongly implies they are not enamored with or even committed to Carr as their starter.

The Bears’ level of commitment to their current starting quarterback isn’t entirely clear. While Ryan Pace publicly threw his support behind Mitchell Trubisky at his end of the year press conference, he admitted they were not ready to commit to his fifth-year option, which is a clearer indication of where they stand.

If, in fact, they are not sold on Mitch — and frankly after three years, they shouldn’t be — then they should be looking to upgrade the position through free agency and the draft.

Unfortunately, there are limited free-agent options who would be a substantial upgrade that wouldn’t cost a fortune. If the Bears went this route, they would be hoping to catch lightning in a bottle or opting for a game manager, with a guy like Case Keenum for example.

Carr, on the other hand, would be a significant upgrade from Mitch but not at the cost of a guy like Brady, Teddy Bridgewater or Cam Newton (assuming he’s released). Carr has three years and approximately $60 million left on his deal. While not peanuts, it is still significantly less than what Bridgewater is rumored to potentially get.

Rather the bigger impediment to acquiring Carr for the Bears is that it would have to come via a trade. With limited draft capital, the Bears may not have the juice needed to pull off a deal.

However, they have done business in the past, executing the Khalil Mack blockbuster so perhaps the two sides could work out a creative solution should the Raiders really want to move on. Either way, Pace has to pick up the phone and see what it could cost as not doing so would be grossly negligent.