The Mike Glennon signing is officially official:
It's official.
Welcome to Chicago, Mike Glennon!
?⬇ pic.twitter.com/kvwktiZKEW— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) March 10, 2017
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As we’ve discussed, there are reasons to understand this move from the Bears’ perspective:
“We’ll get more into this after the signing is official, and there’s time to consider all the implications in the run-up to the draft, but I think we’re going to find out that things played out this way for the Bears:
(1.) They were done with Jay Cutler, full stop, no turning back, no matter what, etc., etc.
(2.) They do want to target a long-term quarterback in the draft, but the lack of an obvious guy there at number three has given them pause.
(3.) They don’t want to punt entirely on 2017, but the cost of acquiring someone like Jimmy Garoppolo was going to be prohibitive.
(4.) They want to add a quarterback who can be a placeholder for a younger quarterback if necessary, but who also still has a little bit of potential upside left, in case that right young quarterback doesn’t develop or isn’t available in this year’s draft. In other word, this year’s “bridge” quarterback might also have to be next year’s bridge quarterback, and, all else equal, you’d rather that guy was young enough and projectable enough to possibly be more than a merely serviceable starter.
The only guy on the free agent market who fits all of that right now is Mike Glennon.”
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In the coming weeks, we’ll undoubtedly dissect precisely what kind of upside is plausible for the 27-year-old now-former back-up.
Because of the contract structure, the Bears have really only committed to giving Glennon a chance to establish himself in 2017, and, even then, the team will almost certainly be developing a drafted quarterback behind him. Here’s hoping Glennon demonstrates why the Bears targeted him and why there were some high hopes for him in his early days in Tampa Bay, and the Bears also draft a stud who develops so quickly behind Glennon that there’s a quarterback controversy – the good kind! – by next summer.
I’m going to choose to have an open mind on all of this for now.