By adding Nick Foles, Bears seek to push, if not replace, Mitchell Trubisky
The Chicago Bears may not replace quarterback Mitchell Trubisky for the 2020 season, but they found his replacement if needed.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Bears have a trade in place that will send former Chiefs quarterback Nick Foles to Chicago from Jacksonville. The Jaguars will receive a fourth-round draft choice.
Bears coach Matt Nagy knows Foles well from their time with the Chiefs in 2016. Nagy was the quarterbacks coach then, before earning a promotion to offensive coordinator under Andy Reid and later taking over in Chicago.
Foles, 31, appeared in four games for the Chiefs and won his only start in place of the injured Alex Smith. The following season, Foles joined the Eagles as a backup but took over as the starter late in the season and helped Philadelphia to its first Super Bowl title. He was the Super Bowl LII MVP.
A year ago, Foles signed a four-year, $88 million contract with the Jaguars but was injured in the opener, a loss to the Chiefs. Gardner Minshew is now the Jaguars’ starter.
Pro Football Talk reported Foles restructured his contract with the Bears and has $21 million guaranteed over the next three seasons. However, Foles can void the contract after either of the first two years.
The Chicago Tribune reported the Bears had been “seeking — at the minimum — competition for starter Mitch Trubisky.”
Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times wasn’t thrilled with the trade, particularly with Teddy Bridgewater and Tom Brady available. He thinks this won’t solve the Bears’ problems.
“Ever wonder how we got here, on this tiny planet in a massive universe, asking the big questions in life while burdened with an NFL team that is doing a slapstick routine in front of us? Me, too,” Morrissey wrote.
“Nothing against Foles, who might end up beating out Trubisky for the Bears’ starting quarterback job. But this wasn’t a time for ‘might’’ or ‘perhaps’ or ‘maybe.’’ This was a time to be done with Trubisky, who was a twinkle in the eye of general manager Ryan Pace in 2017 for reasons that would become indecipherable soon after.”
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune sees at least some upside of adding Foles over another quarterback.
However, Biggs added a caveat.
“The coronavirus pandemic has shut down NFL facilities, and it’s conceivable the offseason program as a whole could be wiped out,” Biggs wrote. “If that’s the case, teams might not gather until training camp. That’s why acquiring a quarterback with familiarity in the scheme and a history with coaches could help the Bears as they look to overhaul an offense that was dreadful in 2019. ...
“Whether Foles can emerge as a long-term solution for the Bears remains to be seen. He has only 13 starts over the last four regular seasons and was viewed primarily as a top-tier No. 2 until the Jaguars tabbed him to replace Blake Bortles last March.”
Trubisky, who was selected second in the 2017 NFL Draft, completed 63.2% of his passes last season, his third with the Bears. He had 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and his passer rating, yards per attempt and yards per completion were all down from the previous season.
On silver lining for Trubisky fans? In 2018, Foles and the Eagles beat the Bears at playoff game at Soldier Field. On that day, Trubisky had better stats than Foles:
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 2:56 PM.
