Why Chicago Bears will not stress over third quarterback decision
There will technically be a training camp battle between Nathan Peterman and Tyson Bagent to see who the Chicago Bears' third quarterback will be. While that will be the case, it will hardly be a competition because they are working on entirely different things.
Why Chicago Bears will not stress over third quarterback decision
In the case of Peterman, the Bears signed him and kept him around because they viewed him as a great quarterback coach who could blur the lines from the players to the coaches. He is valuable in the meeting rooms, and he is valuable in setting the tone and running drills, and being a team person.
On the other end, Tyson Bagent will mainly be concerned about himself. That is not because he is selfish; it is because the Bears want him to focus on getting better. They see him as a project. He has the raw tools that Nathan Peterman does not, but he went to a much smaller school and has much less day-to-day life in the NFL experience.
So, you could make the argument that when Peterman is helping Bagent and Bagent is getting better, it is actually Peterman who is winning the battle because he is flexing his value to stick around.
However, the truth is that it probably does not matter, and the third and fourth quarterbacks are irrelevant as long as both are doing their respective jobs. Yes, one will be on the roster, and the other will be on the practice squad, but both are guaranteed a spot.
While the Chicago Bears would normally have to worry about the one getting cut signing elsewhere, it does feel like that is not the case this time.
If the Chicago Bears keep Tyson Bagent, Peterman will circle back. Fans will joke that it is because no one else wants him, and even if that it is true, the other reason is familiarity. Luke Getsy and Andrew Janocko clearly have a relationship with Peterman and know him on a personal level. A team would have to entice Peterman away from working with people he likes.
On the same end, Tyson Bagent spent a week with Luke Getsy at the Senior Bowl and signed with Luke Getsy post-draft. When you add in that he will spend a training camp developing with Getsy, he has to know that no one will give him a better shot to advance his career than someone is getting so familiar with.
Beyond that, a team claiming Bagent would have to activate him, and at his experience level, it is so hard to see why any team would do that.
So, both Peterman and Bagent chose to sign here because they wanted to be in the room all-year. If either one is on the practice squad, it is probably a not a big deal.