Edwards during his days with the Buffalo Bills.
LAKE FOREST- Despite all of the transactions the Bears have made since Friday, general manager Phil Emery felt that he needed to add another quarterback into the mix with Matt Blanchard on the injured list.
Today the Bears announced that they signed veteran journeyman signal caller Trent Edwards to a one-year contract. Edwards along with the recently signed Jordan Palmer and former first round draft pick JaMarcus Russell tried out for the Bears back June but neither man was given a contract afterwards.
Palmer was signed on Friday after third-string quarterback Matt Blanchard fractured his hand in Thursday night’s exhibition win over the San Diego Chargers. Many thought that the Bears would stick with just Jay Cutler and Josh McCown along with Palmer. While today’s announcement comes a surprise, it does make sense.
Palmer has only attempted 15 passes in his entire NFL career which began back in 2007. Trent Edwards on the other hand has a more polished resume. He began his career in Buffalo in 2007 and played there through 2010. From there he went to Jacksonville, then to Oakland and most recently Philadelphia.
Over time he has completed 563-of-929 passes for 6,033 yards, 26 touchdowns, 30 interceptions and has a 75.5-percent passer rating. He also as a career completion percentage of 60.6. Perhaps Phil Emery felt that if Matt Blanchard is going to miss a significant amount of time, he wanted to have a more experienced quarterback on the roster should the Bears decide to keep three on the 53-man roster.
The Bears may also decide to just keep Cutler and McCown active and place a third man on the practice squad. From here it looks like that Palmer and Edwards will battle for that third-string spot.
It is most likely that neither man will see the field Friday night when the Bears travel to Oakland for preseason game number three. Cutler and McCown will take the reigns on that night. But expect Edwards and Palmer to get significant snaps in the preseason finale on August 29th against Cleveland.
In order to make room for Edwards on the 90-man roster, the front office decided to part ways with wide receiver Jerrell Jackson. The Bears will practice tomorrow after getting a few days to rest after Thursday’s win. Follow me on Twitter @GabeSalgado82
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