A Closer Look at the Selection of Mitchell Trubisky
The Chicago Bears have made their pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by grabbing quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. He will try to be the quarterback of the future in Chicago but first, fans must give over the sting of his selection and what it took to get him.
If you were like me and attended the Bears’ Draft Party at Soldier Field this past Thursday night you witnessed something that happens often when team’s make draft picks. You would have seen Bears’ fans, en masse, getting upset over what the Bears did. The reaction to the Bears’ selection of Trubisky was deflating and people around me were very angry. They felt that Chicago had given up too much to get him. Some felt he wasn’t worthy of the second pick in the draft or even being selected in the draft’s first round.
At first, this writer was upset at the pick like so many people were. But after thinking about it for a while and looking at some of the numbers, the pick started to make more sense.
Trubisky has a lot of potential and has been deemed by some as the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft. Leading up to the start of the draft, rumor had it that Trubisky was the most sought after quarterback in the draft. Was it the truth or was it just a rumor? Perhaps it was the truth.
At least it’s the truth from the Bears’ perspective. But there is some evidence that other teams were looking to trade up to get Trubisky. The Bears may have realized that they would need to give the 49ers the “sweetest” deal that they had been offered to move up one place to get him. They did what they felt they had to do to get their guy.
Chicago Bears
The Bears are happy with what they got and the way they went about getting it. But did they “reach”? Did they go too far?
This trade has been analyzed to death and many seem to agree it was not favorable for the Bears. But Chicago made this trade for two big reasons. The first is that they wanted Trubisky above any other player in the draft. There is no question about that. The second reason is because they wanted a guy they felt could be their franchise quarterback. They went all in to get him.
Beyond what it took to get Trubisky to the Bears, they also must know what they have in him. They have a guy who started 13 games in his career at the University of North Carolina. He was only a one-year starter at UNC so his experience isn’t as strong as other quarterbacks in the draft. His ceiling, however, appears to be high.
What he does bring to the table is good accuracy, solid decision-making skills, and decent mechanics. He has some things to work on but, in time, he could be a pretty solid, if not spectacular, quarterback.
Where does this leave Chicago at the quarterback position heading into the 2017 season? If you listen to what General Manager Ryan Pace says, Mike Glennon is their starting quarterback. He almost has to be. They brought him in on a three-year deal worth $45 million. They gave him a $3 million dollar signing bonus and will pay him $14 million total in 2017 (the signing bonus is spread out over three years). But the nice thing about Glennon is that the Bears do have an “out” with his contract next season. Smart thinking.
Then you have Mark Sanchez, who has a salary of $1,906,250 for this year and Connor Shaw who will be paid $465,000 in 2017.
Trubisky’ s salary, which is estimated to be just over $29 million for the length of the contract according to Jason Belzer of Forbes Magazine means that his salary in 2017 should be somewhere around $7,250,000 (estimated by this story’s author). That means the Bears will have about $23,651,250 tied up in quarterback’s salaries. That’s if they kept all four players which is not likely. They will probably let Sanchez go while Shaw will be on the bubble.
Unless there are significant injuries at the quarterback position this season, Trubisky should not see the field. They need to let him develop for a season and then see if he’s ready. Throwing him into the fire too soon could ruin him and the Bears can’t afford to have that happen.
Chicago has a golden opportunity to have a lot of success with Trubisky. Hopefully he is not only apt to be a starting NFL quarterback but hopefully, he gets the right coaching. He can be good but he will only be as good as the Bear’s coaching staff will allow him to be. And how good are they? That’s a story for another day.