From the Rumor Mill: Trading for Garoppolo, QB Free Agents, Plans for Cutler, More

Jan 19, 2017

A tour around the Bears-related rumor mill for your evening perusal …

So much of our attention this offseason will be on the future – both near and long-term – for the Bears at quarterback, given the obvious need there, and the increasingly disproportionate importance placed on the position in the current game. That there are four teams left in the postseason, all quarterbacked by household names, is not a coincidence. In fact, only two of the bottom ten quarterbacks in PFF’s season-ending rankings were on playoff teams, and each – Eli Manning (ranked 24th) and Brock Osweiler (ranked 32nd) – were handily bounced by teams led by Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Teams can succeed with a game-manager-type quarterback (Alex Smith’s style certainly skews that way, and the Chiefs won 12 games this year), but it’s becoming more and more of a rarity.

So, then … what about the Bears? We know Jay Cutler, 33, is probably not long for the starting job in Chicago. With most of the guaranteed money on his contract already paid out, he could be cut before June 1 and save the Bears $14 million against the cap. As Luis has discussed, the Bears might elect to bring back Brian Hoyer and/or Matt Barkley as a bridge quarterback hoping to find the next long-term starter in this year’s draft, whether with their number three overall pick (Mitch Trubisky? Deshaun Watson? DeShone Kizer?) or later in the draft (perhaps one of the Senior Bowl quarterbacks the Bears will get to see up close next week?)

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Alternatively, the Bears could look to add a quarterback via trade. Although Tony Romo has received recent attention on that front, it’s still not clear whether he’ll be shopped (moving him now would save the Cowboys only $5 million against the cap next year, and it might be in their best interest to keep an excellent, veteran back-up behind Dak Prescott), and it’s also fair to debate whether a 37-year-old, frequently-injured, pricey veteran is the right fit for the Bears right now, regardless of what they do in the draft.

The bigger trade target, arguably, is New England back-up Jimmy Garoppolo, who hails from the Chicago area, and is a more plausible long-term option than a guy like Romo. In limited duty subbing for Tom Brady during his early-season suspension, Garoppolo was fantastic this year … for a game and a half. Then he hurt his shoulder, and it was back to back-up duty by the time Brady returned. Because Brady looked so good once again, it’s possible the Patriots will try to cash in on Garoppolo’s perceived value in a weak quarterback market, and, if they do, the Bears are likely to be interested. As Jeff Dickerson writes, though, the Patriots may demand the Bears’ first round pick in a deal for Garoppolo – a steep price for a guy with a limited professional track record. On the up side, Garoppolo is just 25, is generally thought to have the potential to be quality starting quarterback, and will make under $1 million in 2017. On the down side, in addition to the steep price and questions about his limited experience, Garoppolo is an unrestricted free agent after 2017. So the Bears would be trading for either a one-year try-out, or trading with the intention of inking Garoppolo to a significant extension. Risks abound.

In the context of considering a Browns trade for Garoppolo, Dan Labbe takes an extremely deep dive on the Patriots’ backup at Cleveland.com.

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If the Bears don’t go the trade route, they could look to free agency, although the options there are mostly of the “bridge” variety. Still, the Bears could look to some of the better free agent options to be something more than a mere bridge, but without blocking a future quarterback should the Bears “hit” on one in the draft (first round or otherwise). The problem there is that the free agent market for quarterbacks this year figures to be extremely weak. Tampa Bay back-up Mike Glennon might be the best quarterback actually available, and, although he showed signs of promise in his rookie year in 2013, he’s largely been a caddy since. Moreover, Glennon, 27, might require a serious commitment to sign anyway. The Jets are already rumored to be interested in Glennon, who could get $13 to $15 million annually on a multiyear deal (Adam Schefter). That’s more like the kind of commitment you make to a guy if you expect him to be THE guy (and will teams be wary of making the next Brock Osweiler-sized mistake).

Other free agents could include Kirk Cousins (but the Redskins may very well franchise tag him again), Tyrod Taylor (the Bills have to make a $31 million option decision for the 2018-21 seasons), and AJ McCarron (solid results in limited experience backing up Andy Dalton). On Taylor, by the way, there are reasons to believe he’s been much better over the past two seasons than some give him credit.

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ESPN takes a crack at identifying the biggest changes in the offseason for each of the NFL’s 32 teams. The Bears’ installment is the trade or release of Jay Cutler.

A Q&A with Brad Biggs at the Tribune also suggests strongly that the Bears will finally part ways with Cutler this offseason. There’s a whole lot more in there worth checking out, including how aggressive the Bears will be in free agency (outside of quarterback, you can safely assume the answer is “very”), and the ever-popular trading-back-in-the-draft question (takes two to tango).

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written by

Luis C. Medina

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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