Chicago Bears: Would Mitchell Trubisky have succeeded elsewhere?

What if Mitchell Trubisky had gone to a different franchise back in 2017?

When the Chicago Bears traded up to draft Mitchell Trubisky at no. 2 back in the 2017 NFL Draft, they had no idea they would be passing on a generational talent in Patrick Mahomes. It is difficult to blame the Bears for passing on the half-billion dollar man at this point, because nine other teams failed to take advantage of selecting Mahomes as well.

But, now that Mahomes is the highest-paid athlete in the history of sports, it’s tough to ignore the possibilities that might have come with drafting him. The Chiefs just inked Mahomes to a 10-year extension worth upwards of $503 million a few days ago, sparking the debate once again.

In two seasons as the Chiefs’ starter, Mahomes has a 50-touchdown season, an MVP, two Pro Bowl appearances, a Super Bowl title and a Super Bowl MVP.

In two and a half seasons as a starter in Chicago, Trubisky doesn’t even have 50 passing touchdowns combined (48) and ranks near the bottom of the NFL in most major quarterback categories.

Full disclosure: I do not believe Trubisky to be a franchise quarterback, at least not in Chicago. But, it is fair to put some of the blame on the front office and coaching. Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy have not done everything they possibly could do to support any young, franchise quarterback for that matter, let alone Trubisky.

Had Trubisky ended up on one of three other particular teams, I wonder if his situation would look a little different. Three teams with some similarities of their own may have been able to put Trubisky in a better position to succeed.