The Chicago Bears must do something to address their offensive performance, and trading for quarterback Cam Newton is the perfect solution.
Saying the Chicago Bears whiffed on drafting Mitchell Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson isn’t an original take. It’s about as tasty as reheated cabbage, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Bears need to do something about their quarterback situation.
Perhaps the most drastic thing is to trade for a quarterback at the deadline. Cam Newton just lost his starting job to Kyle Allen in Carolina, and you couldn’t even finish asking BEars fans if they’d trade for him before you get your answer.
Since being drafted, Trubisky has started 31 games for the Bears. Despite making the Pro Bowl in 2018, his tenure with the team has been nothing short of a nightmare. He has managed to throw 21 interceptions in 31 games, taken 65 sacks, 16 career fumbles. He posted a QBR of 71 last season but otherwise has posted a 32.4 in 2017 and a 34.2 so far this season. That’s…quite bad. In fact, it ranks him 30th among quarterbacks in 2019.
Despite giving up 36-points to the New Orleans Saints in Week Seven, the Bears have the fifth-ranked defense in the NFL. Khalil Mack is legitimately one of the top defensive players in the league. The defense is good enough to take the team to the Super Bowl. There is just one, little problem…
The offense keeps standing in its way.
Newton had a difficult start to the season and has struggled to be completely healthy through much of his NFL career. Despite this, he has started 124 games in his first eight years in the league, been to three pro bowls, and is consistently voted as one of the top 100 players in the league.
Since starting the first two games of the season, Newton has been sidelined with a foot injury and is still rehabbing at this time. His injury has opened the door for the former undrafted free agent, second year quarterback Kyle Allen to take the helm, and he has taken full advantage of the opportunity. Carolina is 4-0 since Allen became the starter, and the team has announced that he will continue to start in a huge matchup with the undefeated San Francisco 49ers in Week Eight, following their Week Seven bye.
The team will have a tough decision to make once Newton is fully recovered from his injury, as they will have to decide if Allen remains the starter, or if they will turn the reigns back over to their franchise quarterback.
This situation is too good of an opportunity for Chicago to resist.
Despite his struggles, Newton would represent an immediate upgrade over Mitchell Trubisky, and would give the team a fighting chance at the rest of this season, and renewed faith and optimism heading in to next. Newton is under contract through 2020, and that makes it an important contract year for Newton as he seeks what will likely be his last major payday in the NFL following the 2020 season. This will also give the Bears 18 months or so to figure out if they want to keep Newton around for the duration of his time in the league, or if they want to start pursuing a new future franchise quarterback.
Newton would allow the team to capitalize on what is otherwise a relatively good set of pieces on offense (Tarik Cohen, David Montgomery, Taylor Gabriel, Allen Robinson and Trey Burton are a formidable grouping, or could be with a playmaking quarterback). And, with their defense, they would need only average Cam Newton to be able to win the majority of their games.
The Bears cannot afford to continue the Trubisky experiment. Personal pride is the only reason why Pace would continue with this failed path. And that type of pride often costs GMs like Pace their jobs. He must get over that, cut bait with the third year pro, and find a new starting quarterback for his franchise. He must go get Cam Newton.