NEWSLETTER
If you hang around long enough to build a good reputation among members of the NFL’s quarterbacks club, you can stick around a long time.
You might not stick in one place for longer than a year or two. But as we’ve learned by following the likes of Chase Daniel and Mike Glennon, it can be pretty easy to finesse your way into new contracts each year if you play your cards right. And while I’m not explicitly saying that is what Nathan Peterman is doing, but his signing a one-year contract with the Bears with certainly put him on that path.
The latest from NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero:
Free-agent QB Nathan Peterman is signing a one-year contract with the #Bears, per source.
Peterman - who opened the 2018 season as the #Bills' starter ahead of Josh Allen - spent the last few seasons with the #Raiders. Now, he joins Justin Fields and Trevor Siemian in Chicago.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 11, 2022
I’ll join you in openly wondering — huh?
Peterman, 28, was a Bills fifth-round pick in 2017 NFL Draft. And the Bears, as a franchise, should have plenty of data and background on him from their extensive meetings with him from the Senior Bowl and throughout the pre-draft process. Two general managers and three head coach hires later, Peterman finds himself in Chicago. Clearly, a lot has changed since that time.
As for Peterman, there isn’t much of a track record to go on. The Pitt product has played in six games and made just two starts since being chosen by Buffalo. And he hasn’t even started since 2018. The Bears have started Mitchell Trubisky, Chase Daniel, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, and Justin Fields since Peterman last made a start. The last two years for Peterman have been spent in Vegas with the Raiders. And while there are fewer places I’d rather spend my fall and winter than on the Vegas Strip, Peterman has a grand total of 15 regular season snaps in those years. All that adds up to … me not understanding what’s supposed to be on the other side of the equation for the Bears.
Justin Fields and Trevor Siemian are set at the top of the depth chart. Perhaps this front office doesn’t like what it was seeing from QB3 Ryan Willis during last weekend’s rookie minicamp. And because you wouldn’t want Fields or Siemian taking fourth quarter preseason reps, then I suppose the Peterman signing makes sense. Then again, couldn’t the Bears do better?
