Chicago Bears: QB was a hot topic at Pace presser

The quarterback position was a hot topic at the Chicago Bears media session on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday morning, the Chicago Bears held a phone conference with the media ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, scheduled to begin on Thursday night. There were a number of topics discussed, including Trey Burton‘s release, Eddy Pineiro‘s new competition and plans for the Bears in the draft.

However, the hottest topic of the call was the quarterback position. Candidly, since Ryan Pace traded up for Mitchell Trubisky it has been all fans have talked about. So it was no surprise that it once again dominated the discussion.

There were two interesting tidbits that came out of the call, neither of which seems particularly promising for Trubisky.

First, Pace was still unwilling to commit to a decision on Trubisky’s fifth-year option. While they have until May 4th to make the decision, it doesn’t appear they will learn anything new in the next 13 days that would impact their decision. Perhaps they don’t want to tip their hand in the draft and signal to the league that they’re unlikely to draft a quarterback? Well, that might make sense if it wasn’t for the other revelation that doesn’t bode well for Trubisky.

Second, Pace indicated he would be open to drafting a quarterback if that player is the best available on the board. Interestingly, Pace said almost the exact same thing in 2016 before his first draft as the Bears’ general manager, and then again in 2019.

But something feels different about the state of the position this time around. In 2016 he had Jay Cutler in the last year of his contract, and a roster needing nearly a complete overhaul, so the position was a critical need. Prior to last season, Pace was hoping Trubisky would make a big jump from year two to three in Nagy’s offense and wasn’t going to undermine his confidence with more competition.

That’s all out the window now, as the addition of Nick Foles through free agency signals, the kid gloves are off. So this year when Pace says the team may draft a quarterback, it’s more believable — especially considering the seat upon which he sits is warming up — quickly.

Expect the quarterback position to continue to be a hot topic of discussion until the season starts, and if they select one in the draft, that’ll only intensify.