Chicago Bears: Declining Trubisky’s option the right move
The Chicago Bears have officially declined Mitch Trubisky’s fifth-year option and it was the right move.
Late Saturday afternoon, Ryan Pace and the Chicago Bears ended the suspense around the decision whether to pick up Mitchell Trubisky‘s fifth-year option. The team put out a press release announcing they would be declining Trubisky’s option, signaling the end could be near for Mitch’s time in Chicago. Regardless of how you feel about Mitch, the decision to decline the option was the correct one.
There have not been many quarterbacks over the last five year who have had their option declined. It’s a tough pill to swallow for an organization because it typically means you have come to grips with the fact that you made the wrong decision on your franchise quarterback.
For the Bears, that realization particularly stings because they had a “win-now” roster that they were able to build, in large part, due to Trubisky’s cheap rookie deal. But when they traded for Nick Foles during the offseason, the writing was on the wall for Mitch.
But again, even if you think Trubisky can still be the guy — and perhaps he can and prove the doubters wrong — there was still little reason to pick up the option. In fact, it seemed like such a logical move that the fact it had not been announced until today was a bit confounding.
The cost of Mitch’s fifth-year option would have been approximately $25 million. While the option would only have been guaranteed for injury, that is still too significant a risk to take, especially considering the franchise tag for next year is likely to come in at around $29 million (2020 franchise tag is at about $26 million).
Now the Bears have sent Mitch a message. Improve or you will find yourself without a job in 2021. Fear can be a great motivator for many, and the Bears hope this is the case with Mitch. He has largely been handed the starting job in Chicago and has not had the threat of losing his job until this year.
Next. Pace doubling-down on a strength for 2020. dark
It’s time for Mitch to swink or swim. If he swims and balls out this season, the team can tag him for only a few million more than the cost of the option, or work out a long term deal and minimize the cap hit. When you analyze the options of each course of action, it’s clear to see there was little to be gained by picking it up and potentially a lot to lose. The attention now turns to Mitch to see how he handles the news.