Just over 24 hours into NFL free agency, it's clear the Seahawks are unwilling to trade Russell Wilson and the Bears' fallback plan is... Andy Dalton?
Both Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport are reporting the Bears have signed Andy Dalton to a one-year deal worth $10 million.
Look, we knew any option short of Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson would be underwhelming. And it's important to note that signing Dalton does not preclude the Bears from making a later run at Wilson/Watson or even trading up in the first round of the NFL Draft for a rookie quarterback. In fact, the latter option now becomes more likely.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
But even if that's the case, it's still hard to understand the logic in adding Dalton to the roster — other than the quarterback having history with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. Nick Foles is already a good backup quarterback and under contract for two more years.
And there's just no way Andy Dalton is the long-awaited answer to Matt Nagy's anxious quest to find a quarterback solution in Chicago.
You know who's better (and much younger) than Andy Dalton? Mitchell Trubisky. In fact, we've already reached the inevitable point of free agency where Trubisky is the best quarterback remaining. Alex Smith? Tyrod Taylor? Jacoby Brissett? None of those options put the Bears anywhere near Super Bowl contention in 2021.
And neither does Dalton.
NFL
The former starting quarterback in Cincinnati can't possibly be viewed as anything other than a redundant insurance policy as the team waits Seattle and Houston out.
But is that insurance policy worth anything more than what you already have with Foles? Perhaps it's all a smokescreen — general manager Ryan Pace is known for those — and no one should panic until the dust settles. But you can't blame fans for feeling uneasy about signing Dalton and their reported interest in Jameis Winston — two quarterbacks they passed on just a year ago.
Pace made it clear that all options are on the table at quarterback, so it shouldn't be surprising to see the Bears linked to many different options. What ultimately matters is what they do. Signing Dalton would appear to be redundant but couldn't possibly be the final move at quarterback.
There are still many different trade options out there, beyond just Wilson and Watson, and most of them are better than Dalton. Marcus Mariota, Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshew and even Teddy Bridgewater make more sense.
The Bears are not in a great position to solve their quarterback problem, but surely they can come up with a better solution.
Click here to subscribe to the Under Center Podcast for free.