Chicago Bears fans are still waiting to see if GM Ryan Pace will pull the trigger on a trade for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Carson Wentz.
The idea of the Bears trading for Wentz has been met with criticism in the fan base, and national media pundits are already calling it a dumb move before it’s even happened. Who in their right mind would trade a first-round pick for a quarterback who was arguably the worst starter in the NFL in 2020?
And while that’s a fair question to ask, consider me in the camp of Bears fans who would welcome Wentz with open arms to Chicago. Yes, I know he hasn’t been the 2017 MVP-worthy Wentz in a very long time, but I attribute his regression more to the failures of the Eagles organization than a diminishing skill set.
But as of now, Wentz is an Eagle and all the Bears have on their roster as a potential starting quarterback in 2021 is Nick Foles. It’s a scary thought. Pace can’t let that nightmare turn into a reality, and he could be forced to make an aggressive trade up the first-round order in the 2021 NFL draft to get a starting-ready passer.
In Todd McShay’s latest 2021 mock draft for ESPN, that’s exactly what Pace does.
McShay has the Bears trading up to No. 12 overall for Alabama’s Mac Jones.
Four quarterbacks went in the first four picks, and in this scenario, the Bears didn’t fully address quarterback via free agency or trade. That means it’s now or never for Chicago and it pulls the trigger on a move up the board in the middle of the first round. So what gets it done? To land the No. 12 pick from San Francisco, the Bears would have to send their own first-rounder (No. 20) and a second-rounder (No. 52), probably along with a 2022 first- or second-rounder.
This is more than the traditional trade-value chart expects, and whether that ’22 pick is of the Day 1 or Day 2 variety would depend on how desperate Chicago is for the last true Round 1 QB still out there. Niners GM John Lynch could maybe throw a midrounder back to the Bears to sweeten the deal and get it done.
In this hypothetical, the Bears give up a 2022 first-rounder along with the No. 20 and 52 overall in this year’s draft. While McShay suggests it’s possible to get the deal done with a 2022 second-rounder, there’s no chance of that happening. The San Francisco 49ers aren’t going to slide back eight picks and give up the last premium quarterback draft slot for anything less than a top-32 selection next year.
This trade probably brings back another nightmare for Bears fans, when Pace swapped first-rounders with the 49ers in 2017 to move up for Mitch Trubisky. We know how that ended up. But there’s a difference here: Jones is actually an NFL-ready quarterback who throws accurate passes and knows how to read a defense. While this trade may be a bit of an overpay, trading up for Jones isn’t a bad strategy.
And let’s face it: if Chicago doesn’t move on Wentz, what other options do they have? Beggars can’t be choosers, and in this year’s offseason quarterback market, the Bears are pleading for help.