Things look pretty good now, with Caleb Williams in the fold until further notice. But for the better part of literally six or seven decades, the Chicago Bears' franchise did not have a franchise quarterback to legitimately build around.
It was not for a lack of effort to find that quarterback to build around long-term. Swings were taken in free agency, trades, and early in the draft, to no avail in terms of sustainability (or even viability, in some cases) until what looks like a home run choice in Williams.
One of those big moves the Bears made to add a quarterback stands above the rest, though, in terms of how badly it went.
Bears' biggest free agent bust is just as bad as fans recall it being
"All-Time " is an encompassing phrase, with little or no room for nuance. Bleacher Report has just released a list ranking the 50 biggest NFL free agent busts of all time.
At No. 19 on the list is the Bears' signing of Mike Glennon in 2017.
"The Chicago Bears appear to have finally found their quarterback of the future in Caleb Williams. But back in 2017, they were still searching."
"And by "searching," we mean flailing wildly."
"It's not just that the Bears handed Mike Glennon $15 million per season after three years in Tampa in which he completed only 59.4 percent of his pass attempts and won just five of 18 starts."
"But one month after signing Glennon, the Bears traded up in the first round of the draft to select Mitch Trubisky, which all but put an end to the Glennon era in the Windy City before it started. Glennon started only four games before giving way to the rookie, pacing the NFL with eight turnovers over that span and winning just once."
"The following spring, the Bears released Glennon, who would play for four different teams over the next four seasons."
The Bears paid Glennon $18.5 million guaranteed for four starts, or $4.625 million per start, and that full amount per win he delivered as their starter.
Read more: How Drew Dalman's retirement impacts the Bears' salary cap in 2026 (and beyond?)
In time, drafting Trubisky proved to be its own huge mistake for the Bears. But even after he signed, the equation did not change; Glennon's resume did not indicate he was a starting quarterback, and he would have proved it wherever he signed to ostensibly have that role. It just happened that the Bears signed him, and he proved his ineptitude very quickly.