All offseason, Pace and Nagy have said Trubisky will be the team's starter entering the 2020 season but that a better veteran than Chase Daniel, the backup the past two years, would be brought in to provide needed competition for Trubisky. On Wednesday, the Bears traded a fourth-round pick to Jacksonville for Nick Foles.
The majority of Bears fans are berating that trade as the team could have signed free agents like Marcus Mariota (landed with Raiders) or Jameis Winston, or probably have gotten Cincinnati's Andy Dalton or Carolina's Cam Newton for much less than a fourth-round pick. Dalton and Newton might end up being released and could have then been signed.
Because of prior Pace trades, mainly the Khalil Mack deal, Chicago now has just six picks in the 2020 draft, two of the first 162 and none in the first round. Losing a fourth-round pick hurts in that regard.
One reason Pace reportedly favored Foles over those other veterans is because the coronavirus might wipe out all offseason programs around the NFL. Foles has plenty of ties to the Bears, who run an offense he knows well from his Chiefs/Eagles days.
Foles played in Kansas City when Nagy was there (the two are tight), new Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was Foles' position coach in Philadelphia in 2013 when he led the league with a 119.2 passer rating, and new Chicago QBs coach John DeFilippo had the same job in 2017 with the Eagles when Foles took over for an injured Carson Wentz and won a Super Bowl.
There's no question that Foles is an ideal No. 2, but he is just 26-22 in his regular-season career as a starter and 0-4 last year with the Jaguars. On the William Hill NFL futures odds, the Bears are +450 to win the NFC North -- third-best odds behind Green Bay (+140) and Minnesota (+150). Neither the Packers nor Vikings have any QB worries.
Via SportsLine NFL oddsmakers: Who starts Week 1 at quarterback for the Chicago Bears?
- Mitchell Trubisky -130
- Nick Foles +100
NFL pick: Trubisky. If we take Pace and Nagy at their words, Trubisky has the job to open the season. Foles can serve as a mentor and take over a few games in if Trubisky falters. It has been proven that Foles can come off the bench and succeed, while Trubisky hasn't done that in his young career. Plus, if Foles gets the call Week 1, Trubisky's already-shaky confidence is gone.
