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Despite not making a move at quarterback this offseason, the Bears have been active in the quarterback market since the start of the NFL’s “legal tampering” period ahead of free agency.
They’ve shown interest in everyone from Teddy Bridgewater to Andy Dalton to Nick Foles. But it sounds like there might be a new target for general manager Ryan Pace.
According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, the Bears have been in contact with the Panthers regarding a trade for quarterback Cam Newton.
It’s expected that the Panthers, who recently agreed to terms with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, will release Newton in the coming days. But according to Jones, Chicago might not want to compete for Newton in the open market. So they could be looking to get things done now.
The Panthers have been in recent contact with the Bears regarding Cam Newton, per source. The expectation is Newton will be released in the coming days, but CHI may not want to compete in the market for him
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 18, 2020
The Panthers put an end to the Cam Newton era in Carolina, when they announced that he could “seek a trade” elsewhere. Carolina, meanwhile, agreed to a massive deal with Bridgewater to make him their new starter.
The trade would make sense for the Bears. Newton has one year left on his current contract, and the Bears are in win-now mode, as evidenced by the moves Pace has already made this offseason.
Obviously the one thing that’s a question mark surrounding Newton is his health. With the NFL on lockdown with the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no way for Newton to take a physical to prove he’s good to go. But you figure, since Newton would make this team better, that it would be worth it to find out.
The one thing that’s been made abundantly clear through these last three days has been the lack of confidence this organization has in current starter Mitchell Trubisky.
Like they always say, actions speak louder than words. And that’s always what Pace has been like.
Will Newton wind up in navy and orange? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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