Chicago Bears: Ranking the 2020 quarterback rumors via trade and free agency
Things are warming up
These quarterbacks are all guys I would feel somewhat excited about if the Chicago Bears were to snag one in either free agency or via trade.
7. Tom Brady – Patriots
As I was making my rankings, I was shocked Brady did not land higher on my list. I mean, we are talking about one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks to play the game of football. There is not much I need to say here about Brady. The only reason he drops here is that I do not see him playing more than one or two years. Not to mention, at what level would he be playing in 2020 and 2021? He has already shown some signs of slowing down the last couple of years.
To top it off, I am not sure he currently fits well on this roster. Brady would arguably do fine in Matt Nagy’s systems, but not well enough to overcome some of the offense’s bigger flaws. From a timing standpoint, Brady would excel at making anticipatory throws. This would spark the offense to some degree. The problem here though is that the offensive line would get him killed and he still has no tight end to throw to on this team.
6. Cam Newton – Panthers
Here is another quarterback I would probably feel a little better about if not for his current injury status. Newton had an MVP season in 2015, but outside of that, he has done very little to make me fall in love with the idea that he could spark this team into a guaranteed Super Bowl run.
Personally, I find that Newton is slightly overrated. I find that his MVP season has given everyone the impression that this is the norm for Newton. Not only is it not the norm, but it seems to be more of an outlier. Newton has a touchdown to interception ratio of 1.69:1. That does not scream superstar as much as many want it to seem.
To be fair, we need to account for Newton’s rushing touchdowns. Maybe that will set him apart enough? Adding in his rushing touchdowns, Newton scores an average of 2.22 touchdowns to one interception. If we add in his fumbles, he scores a touchdown only 1.47 times to each turnover. This is still an upgrade over Trubisky though who scores only 1.10 touchdowns to each turnover.
Newton will fit in fine in Chicago, but when you add in his injury, the cost of having to trade for him, plus his age and I just cannot put him any higher on this list.
5. Philip Rivers – Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers decided to move on from Philip Rivers this season. With all of these potential quarterback swaps, the league could really see a big change in 2020. Philip Rivers has always been vastly underrated. His biggest downfall seems to be his inability to make the big play in crunch time. Could going to a new team help change that? Probably not, but I would be slightly excited about him playing for the Chicago Bears anyway.
Unlike Cam Newton, Rivers is a free agent going into the offseason. This means his cost will only be about money and the Chicago Bears can hold onto draft capital and players. This is the one reason Rivers gets a nod over Newton for me. Not to mention, he has had fewer injury issues compared to Newton. Rivers has never missed an NFL game since taking over the starting duties for the Chargers in 2006.
Rivers had a pedestrian season in 2019, but going back just one year to 2018, Rivers threw 32 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. Rivers also has thrown for over 4,200 yards every season since 2013. He has also thrown over 4,000 yards in 11 of his 13 seasons since 2006. Rivers has averaged 260 yards per game throughout his career. In comparison, Trubisky has averaged 208. Rivers is very underappreciated, but his age and turnovers are why he is available this year.