Do Chicago Bears have plans to trade Nick Foles?

The Chicago Bears announced the signing of Trevor Siemian last night. The move may have been expected but also was surprising in some regards.

It was expected because the Bears had three quarterbacks, and we’re very likely to bring four to training camp. They were going to sign somebody to bring in. However, the type of player that they brought in was not exactly what you would expect.

The four quarterbacks are often the starter, an experienced veteran backup, a young third-stringer fighting to earn a job, a young camp body who is there to push the third guy and keep things moving in camp.

Justin Fields is the obvious starter, and Ryan Willis is probably the four in this scenario. Still, in the case of Trevor Siemian and Nick Foles, both are qualified to be the number two, while both are a bit too experienced to be the number three.

Yes, Bears fans, we remember just last season when Nick Foles was the number three, but that was a worst-case scenario thanks to a desperate quarterback team. The reality is that the Chicago Bears would not sign Trevor Siemian if they expected to be keeping Nick Foles.

The Bears could Nick Foles and that would save them $3M, or they could trade him, which would save them $4M. The obvious best case is the trade.

In the trade, the team would save more money and get something back. Even a seventh-round draft pick would be fine if the team could get off of the extra million. So, with them signing Trevor Siemian, you have to assume that they have a trade lined up.

The team is not in a bidding war for Siemian, so they did not need to rush to sign him. Beyond that, Siemian would not sign to be the number three after he has been a backup quarterback for years.

The Chicago Bears likely realized that they will be able to move Nick Foles. With that assurance, they added Siemian, and now know that they can shop Foles around and see if they can get something better than a conditional seventh-round pick.

The Chicago Bears will have four quarterbacks in camp, but it will not be the four that you see on the roster today. Nick Foles will get traded, and a much younger third or fourth-string quarterback will jump into the mix.