Well, today’s visit with the Bears must have gone well:
The #Bears are expected to sign former #Cowboys QB Mark Sanchez, source said. They are finalizing a deal. More depth to the QB room.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 24, 2017
We’ll see what the deal looks like when the particulars come out, but it doesn’t figure to be especially onerous for the Bears.
As Luis wrote when word of the visit broke:
General manager Ryan Pace already locked up Mike Glennon on a three-year deal, and re-signed Connor Shaw with an eye on him competing for a reserve role, so why not add Sanchez to the mix? He spent the 2016 season as a backup on the Dallas Cowboys and hasn’t completed a full season since 2011 and hasn’t come close since starting 15 games and going 6-9 in 2012 — his final season with the New York Jets.
Sanchez wasn’t terrible in his first three seasons, playing well enough to lead the Jets to the AFC Championship game in his first two years. Sanchez’s record as a starter through his first three seasons was 27-20. He posted a 73.2 passer rating with 55 touchdowns and 51 interceptions ….
At this stage of his career, Sanchez isn’t anything more than a back-up, back-up signing. It’s not the kind of move that would push the Bears away from drafting a quarterback in the first round. Further, the Bears’ interest in Sanchez is more likely a sign the team might not looooove any of its quarterback options. If anything, bringing on Sanchez (or another free agent quarterback) would probably create a competition between Sanchez and Shaw. In this scenario, the Bears could still draft a developmental quarterback in April.
Sanchez, 30, certainly makes sense for the Bears as a depth quarterback option, given that no one quite knows what they have in Shaw, and it’s no lock that the Bears will take a sufficiently-abled quarterback in the draft that the youngster would immediately factor into the mix for snaps. Glennon remains the starter for 2017, and I don’t necessarily see a Sanchez addition as impacting the Bears’ draft plans vis a vis a quarter, one way or another. If they love a guy for the long-term, they’ll still take him. If they love Glennon, they might pause for a moment, and focus more on a later-round, even-more-developmental type.
In any case, we’ll give this a little time to marinate, and wait to hear how the front office provides context for this move.