The NFL's legal tampering window will open at 11 a.m. Monday when all 32 teams can begin negotiating with unrestricted free agents on parameters of a contract that can officially be signed on March 18.
The Bears are one of the must-watch teams during the 48 hours of insanity because of their expected involvement in the quarterback market. While there's still a strong chance GM Ryan Pace could choose the trade route to find Mitch Trubisky's 2020 competition (say, Andy Dalton or Derek Carr), NBC Sports' Chris Simms has a different prediction.
Simms thinks the Bears will win the Teddy Bridgewater sweepstakes.
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It's a bold prediction by Simms, to say the least. If the Bears sign Bridgewater this week, it will all but end Trubisky's tenure as Chicago's starting quarterback. Bridgewater won't come cheap; his projected market value, per Spotrac, is $21.5 million per year. Multiply that by four years (assuming he signs a multi-year deal), and we're talking big money.
And that $21.5 million figure may go up considering the four-year, $118 million deal Tennessee gave Ryan Tannehill on Sunday.
Granted, Bridgewater isn't as proven as Tannehill, who won the AP Comeback Player of the Year Award last season. But this is the NFL; it's a league that routinely overpays quarterbacks with short resumes.
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Bears fans got an up-close look at Bridgewater's ability as a starting quarterback in Week 7 last season when he threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns in New Orleans' 36-25 victory. The former Vikings first-round pick played like an efficient game-manager with the occasional big-play upside. In other words, he looked like everything Chicago needs behind center.
Do the Bears have enough money to be a serious contender for Bridgewater? It depends. The 2020 salary cap is lower than expected following the new collective bargaining agreement, but as we've come to learn every year in free agency, teams can get as creative as they want to find the dollars that make sense.
Bridgewater to the Bears? It's a bold prediction, for sure.