Gabriel: Did The Bears Make A Mistake In Signing Mike Glennon? Yes

Bearly

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Nicely balanced take on the current situation and says what many here believe to be the current state of affairs. States that he'd prefer to ist Mitchell for a bit but that it's time to ditch that plan.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/09/22/mike-glennon-signing-mistakes-chicago-bears/

Not long into free agency back in March, the Bears signed quarterback Mike Glennon to three-year deal that practically speaking was a one-year contract.

Given the structure of the contract, it was clear the Bears planned on selecting a quarterback in the draft in April. We just didn’t know who and when. Glennon was set to be the quarterback while the rookie learned the NFL game, and that’s sound reasoning for planning the development of a young quarterback.

Those around the league insist Bears general manager Ryan Pace had strong feelings about the talent and future of Glennon when he signed him. Knowing that answers the question as to why the Bears chose to sign Glennon. The question now is, was it the right decision? This is certainly hindsight now, but that’s the perspective we operate from when a signing doesn’t go as well as expected.

After the 2016 ended, it soon became clear the Bears weren’t going to retain Jay Cutler. There were other veteran quarterbacks on the roster as well. Brian Hoyer played well last season before he broke his arm. He was followed by Matt Barkley, who was inconsistent at his best.

While Hoyer didn’t win games, his numbers were excellent. He completed 134 of 200 passes for 1,445 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions, most importantly. While Hoyer doesn’t possess a great arm, he reads the field well, is a good decision-maker and gets the ball out of his hands quickly. The Bears could move the ball, score and not turn the ball over when he was under center.

The Bears have struggled mightily with their passing game this year, as Glennon isn’t a quick processor, has a problem keeping plays alive with his feet, has a slow release and can’t get the ball downfield.

When you look at Glennon’s tape with Tampa Bay, you really saw the same tendencies. What the Bears had hoped for was that while he didn’t get playing time in 2015 or 2016, his game had improved with practice reps he and the experience of being in the league longer. We now know they were wrong.

Glennon is owed $16 million in this 2017 season, with a salary cap hit of $14 million. Had the Bears chose to keep Hoyer instead, we’d have seen better quarterback play at a considerable savings for the team. Hoyer signed a two-year deal with the 49ers with a cash payout of $7.5 million in 2017, with a cap hit of $5.275 million. That’s considerably less for a player with more talent and production. It could also be argued that Hoyer may have been a better mentor to rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

Pace had an affinity for Glennon. I understand that, but he guessed wrong. There isn’t a talent evaluator in the NFL who hasn’t been wrong on some players. When you look at all the decisions Pace has made during both the draft and free agency, he has done a wonderful job. Fans will be quick to point out that 2015 first-round pick Kevin White has done nothing, but that’s because of injuries, not talent. Injuries are an unfortunate hazard of the game.

Now that we know Glennon was a mistake, why’s he still playing? I understand the plan, but who gives the Bears the better chance to win in 2017, Glennon or Trubisky? I understand that preseason games don’t come close to presenting the challenge of a regular-season contest, but Trubisky clearly outplayed Glennon in the preseason. I can’t find one advantage that Glennon has over Trubisky other than experience.

Is it better for a rookie quarterback to sit and learn? Yes, in most cases. But then when you look at how rookie quarterbacks like Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz played in 2016, we can argue that the time if right for the Bears to turn to Trubisky.

They’ll be better off for it.
 

NCChiFan

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At least the article was not entitled, "Did the Bears make a mistake in drafting Trubisky? Yes."
 

Enasic

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Glennon was an expensive smoke screen. That's all.

I think this is a big part of it. I believe Pace also felt Glennon had some upside and could be serviceable....but I think it was more smoke screen than anything else. Pace invited Glennon to the draft party only to trade up for Trubisky lol....Glennon got played....and paid.
 

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Glennon was an expensive smoke screen. That's all.

I wish that was the case. Unfortunately it's not, evidenced by the fact that Glennon is still the starter and impeding in Trubisky's development. I don't care how much money they are paying Glennon, what I do care about is that they admit their mistake and move on.
 

bearmick

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I wish that was the case. Unfortunately it's not, evidenced by the fact that Glennon is still the starter and impeding in Trubisky's development. I don't care how much money they are paying Glennon, what I do care about is that they admit their mistake and move on.

Yep. I wish he was a smokescreen, but it's clear that he was brought in with the intention of him being the starter while Trubisky developed behind him. Now all we can do is hope they aren't too stubborn.
 

Enasic

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Yep. I wish he was a smokescreen, but it's clear that he was brought in with the intention of him being the starter while Trubisky developed behind him. Now all we can do is hope they aren't too stubborn.

Why can't it be both?

I think Pace signed Glennon for 2 reasons, one which you pointed out....

1. Smokescreen. Drafting Trubisky (especially trading up for him), surprised everyone
2. Give Trubs some time to develop so he didn't have to be thrown in right away in case he wasn't ready.

It appears that Trubs is the better QB and I suspect he's going to start sooner than later. My guess is week 5 against Minnesota. I think Trubs plays at least 10 games this year...but probably closer to 11 or 12.

Also, if Pace just wanted someone to be a placeholder to start while Trubs develops, why not just keep Hoyer or Cutler? He ditched them both and threw the bank at Glennon....which would signal to a lot of folks around the league that Pace was sold on Glennon....but he obviously wasn't because he traded up for Trubisky. It was a complete smokescreen.
 

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This is actually a very good and accurate article. Although Gabriel obviously doesn't read CCS otherwise he would know that Fox made Pace sign Glennon, lol.

I watched every Trubisky game last year, and was literally praying that we would draft him and even suggested like another poster to trade up to get him.

When it was announced that we signed Glennon, I was initially bummed because I thought there goes Trubisky. But then when the details came out and the guaranty was only one year, it was clear to me that we were going quarterback early.

Like the author says, a one year guaranty told him the Bears were going QB in the draft. This is NOT a smokescreen at all.

Great article.
 

WindyCity

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It was a bad signing. He is seriously bad at football, so the Bears are not getting any return on the investment.

Pace assumed that Glennon had learned something and improved sitting on the bench, he didn't get any better.


See what I did there?
 

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No hindsight needed he sucked and got 18 mil from a gm that can't handle free agency. Just a long list of suck from our free agency with pace

Will someone think of the monies!
 

WindyCity

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Blowing money is obviously better than blowing draft picks.

But man Glennon is bad, made worse by the huge pay check, and made even worse by forcing him back on the field.
 

nc0gnet0

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Glennon was an expensive smoke screen. That's all.

If Glennon was an expensive smokescreen it failed. Had it worked, the Bears would have not needed to trade up from the 3 spot into the two spot. This is a nonsensical narrative brought up over and over by people that just can't except the fact Pace screwed up.

A much more likely scenario is Pace/Fox really thought Glennon was their guy, but after signing him to that ridiculous contract, upon hearing they became the laughing stock of the league, Pace second guessed himself.
 

nc0gnet0

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Blowing money is obviously better than blowing draft picks.

But man Glennon is bad, made worse by the huge pay check, and made even worse by forcing him back on the field.

The Bears did both though.
 

anotheridiot

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Glennon was an expensive smoke screen. That's all.

I completely agree with this, but if it really was, they would not have had to lose that third and fourth rounder this year and a third next year. Those are the picks Pace is hitting on big time. It should have worked with teams looking past the bears to make the deal to get the QB. In the end it was a great plan that they lost faith in with three minutes remaining in san franciscos time.
 

bearmick

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Also, if Pace just wanted someone to be a placeholder to start while Trubs develops, why not just keep Hoyer or Cutler? He ditched them both and threw the bank at Glennon....which would signal to a lot of folks around the league that Pace was sold on Glennon....but he obviously wasn't because he traded up for Trubisky. It was a complete smokescreen.

Because he thought Glennon would be considerably better than Hoyer, and good enough to start for the year while Trubisky developed, and possibly good enough to trade in the future. The plan was clearly for Glennon to be the 2017 starter. Obviously Glennon is playing so badly that the change will likely be forced earlier than they had wanted, but it's very clear that Glennon was brought in to start for the whole season.
 

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If they had known that:
1) Trubisky would be available when they drafted ( he was)
2) Trubisky would progress quicker than expected (he has)
3) Trubisky would be a franchise QB (TBD)


They very likely would have stuck with Hoyer.

That Pace wanted to take two swings at getting a franchise QB, one by overpaying him and one by potentially trading picks that may have not been needed is fine. What is not fine is sticking with the missed swing longer than he should.
 

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