For Chicago Bears fans, whenever, a quarterback becomes available, many wonder what it’d take for the Bears to acquire said quarterback.
After the moves the Bears made this offseason, specifically acquiring Andy Dalton, Chicago isn’t about to trade for Teddy Bridgewater.
Stop the Teddy Bridgewater to Chicago Bears talk.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, Chicago has already made a move at quarterback this offseason. They signed veteran Andy Dalton to a one-year deal. With another veteran Nick Foles already on the roster, the Bears aren’t going to bring on another quarterback who’s career is merely being a stopgap quarterback at this point.
Last offseason, Bridgewater was a free agent and while the Bears did attempt to sign him in free agency, they came up short, with competition as a main reason. While Bridgewater once had a bright future in the NFL, since 2017, he’s bounced around quite a few teams, including the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, and New York Jets.
Here’s another reason to avoid trading for Bridgewater at all costs: His production in 2020 was far below average. In 15 starts, he has just 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, completing just 69.1 percent of his passes. Overall, throughout his career, he’s won just 26 games as a starter, putting him three games over .500.
With Chicago also in a tight salary cap situation, any trade involving Bridgewater would mean that the Bears need to find a way to fit Bridgewater’s massive contract on the books. After signing a three-year deal with $63 million dollars last offseason, his cap hit for 2021 will be a projected $22.95 million dollars. In other words, it’s too much for a player that’s merely been an average quarterback his entire career.
While Bridgewater did win five straight games as a starter in 2019, throughout his entire career, he’s mainly been classified as a player who has been carried by the team around him, not necessarily a player that has elevated a team and been the reason that franchises end up winning.
Chicago has already decided to go one route with a veteran quarterback in Dalton. While Bridgewater is younger option, it’s more likely that the Bears end up trading up for a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft simply because Bridgewater is by no means a long-term solution to the quarterback position at this point.
