You know you've made a good backup QB signing when fans of the player's former team are upset to lose him.
Case Keenum didn't play a snap for the Houston Texans in 2023, and he has a 3-9 career record starting for them since they originally signed him as an undrafted free agent back in 2012. But their fans were still loudly disappointed when the Chicago Bears inked him to a one-year contract to back up Caleb Williams.
And this signing is another major signal that Ben Johnson understands the quarterback position in a way Matt Eberflus never did.
Case Keenum Signing Fixes Caleb Williams-Tyson Bagent Issue
Of all the disappointment and bad news for the Chicago Bears in 2024, the strangest situation was when reports came out that it was Tyson Bagent's dad who was leaking fake reports that the Bears veterans wanted to see Bagent start over Caleb Williams (reports that were publicly refuted by Bears players).
A toxic environment like that is never going to do a rookie quarterback any favors, but even if Bagent's dad stayed quiet, it still wasn't nearly ideal. A 24-year-old NFL sophomore, Bagent didn't bring any sort of veteran presence or leadership to the quarterback room.
At quarterback, that is all but a must. How many of the NFL's great quarterbacks didn't have a veteran to learn from early? Patrick Mahomes had Alex Smith. Lamar Jackson had Joe Flacco. Josh Allen had Derek Anderson.
Keenum was there for C.J. Stroud in his record-setting rookie season. Keenum also helped mentor Jared Goff in his rookie year. He's been here and he's done this. And at 37 years old with only five starts made across the last five seasons, even Keenum's parents won't be calling for him to replace Williams.
Matt Eberflus clearly had no idea how to develop a rookie quarterback, but all early indications are that Ben Johnson has things moving in the right direction.