The Chicago Bears made headlines during their search for a new quarterback to replace Mitchell Trubisky. The front office made a valiant effort to obtain Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks via trade, only to fall short. This ultimately led to the Bears signing Andy Dalton instead.
At first glance, acquiring Andy Dalton in free agency seemed like a desperate move. Letting Trubisky walk and bringing in Dalton comes off as a lateral maneuver. However, Bears general manager Ryan Pace views the Red Rifle a bit differently than most. Friday, Pace addressed moving on from Trubisky and signing Dalton to be the starting quarterback:
Ryan Pace said Mitch Trubisky "sacrificed" and "battled for this team." I asked why things didn't work out with him; Pace said they simply wanted to upgrade.
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) April 2, 2021
#Bears GM Ryan Pace on signing Andy Dalton: "The fit with the offense, the leadership that he provides, his decision making. He's been to Pro Bowls. He's one of the more complete QBs we evaluated in free agency and we're excited to have him. We feel like we got better with Andy."
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 2, 2021
Ryan Pace says Andy Dalton fits the #Bears style of offense — specifically mentions dropback game, play-action, RPOs and movements.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) April 2, 2021
As of now, Chicago will be entering the 2021 season with Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback. He is a bit on the older side, but he does have plenty of experience. Dalton seems to have gotten a bad rap, but he has been a serviceable quarterback in the league. During his 10-year career, Dalton has recorded 33,764 yards and 218 touchdowns through the air. With a career quarterback rating of 87.5, Dalton has the potential to be a nice bridge quarterback for the Bears until they find their future star.
With the NFL Draft at the end of April, it will be interesting to see what the Bears organization does. They have the No. 20 pick in the draft, so they're not getting one of the top quarterback options unless there's a crazy trade up. That's a total long shot, but that doesn't mean Chicago won't take a quarterback at some point in this draft.
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