NEWSLETTER
After the surprise Ron Rivera’s dismissal eventually subsided, my thoughts snapped back to what this meant for the long term outlook of the Panthers – specifically, what it meant for quarterback Cam Newton.
And while Newton might have sent out some signals that he would be willing to accept a move to Chicago if the team was in search of a different solution at quarterback, it simply might not be in the cards.
“It would be a massive shock if the Bears were even interested in Newton,” writes JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago. “let alone managed to land him in the event the Panthers make him available.”
That sound you heard was cold water being thrown on the dreams of Bears fans holding out hope that the 2015 NFL MVP would return to health in Chicago and lead the team out of the offensive druthers in 2020 after watching the tires spin and the vehicle go nowhere in 2019.
On the surface, Stankevitz’s reasoning on why the Bears wouldn’t be in on a Newton sweepstakes is sound.
Because if the belief expressed by GM Ryan Pace and Head Coach Matt Nagy isn’t just lip service, it is tough to imagine the team bringing in Newton to participate in some kind of head-to-head battle for the starting position. And why would Newton agree to that anyway? He’s an established quarterback who – when healthy – is among the best and most entertaining players in the game.
And then there is the money situation.
Back in November, we detailed how the Bears could easily work around the cap to increase spending space. But throwing more money at the quarterback position means less money goes elsewhere. More importantly, paying the quarterback gobs of cash means Chicago’s front office would need to hit on more draft picks (of which they have too few for my liking) and roll the dice on undrafted free agents in hopes to get contributions from players on rookie scale deals.
And yet, while it’s fair to be skeptical about the motives behind the Bears’ public displays of affection that serve as confidence boosts for their starting quarterback, it’s also understandable if you are uneasy about the incremental progress Trubisky has been said to have made, especially since they have only shown up in the box score once.
Maybe the draft is a better place to start looking for quarterbacking options.
In any case, nothing should be off the table when it comes to the future of the quarterback position.
So long as the Bears’ general manager happens to be the guy who pulled off a whopper of a deal to trade for Khalil Mack and another one to move up in the draft to take Trubisky in the first place, no scenario involving any player should be dismissed out of hand. Though, if you look at how Kyle Allen has played recently for Carolina, that might be reason enough to rule out Newton becoming available in the first place.
