Boomer Esiason: Chicago is 'a franchise where quarterbacks go to die'

Esiason may have a point. In the 102-year history of the Bears, the franchise has had just nine Pro Bowl quarterbacks.

Of those nine, only Sid Luckman (1940-1942), Johnny Lujack (1950, 1951), and Ed Brown (1955, 1956) made multiple Pro Bowls, and Chicago has only had two make it in the last 50 years — Mitchell Trubisky (2018) and Jim McMahon (1985).

The Bears have drafted 31 quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era, including six first-round picks — Justin Fields, Trubisky, Rex Grossman, Cade McNown, Jim Harbaugh and McMahon.

McMahon is perhaps the most successful of the six, leading Chicago to a Super Bowl title during the 1985 season. In his seven seasons with the Bears, McMahon completed 58 percent of his passes for 11,203 yards, 67 touchdowns and 56 interceptions across 66 games. He had a 46-15 record as Chicago’s starter.

Grossman led the Bears to a Super Bowl appearance in 2006, but he barely completed 54 percent of his passes and ended his tenure with more interceptions (35) than touchdowns (33). 

Harbaugh also threw more interceptions (56) than touchdowns (50) during his time in Chicago, and he won just 35 of his 65 starts. McNown started just 15 games in two seasons, passing for just 3,111 yards.

Despite being named to the Pro Bowl in 2018 after passing for 3,223 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while leading the Bears to an 11-3 record and a playoff appearance, Trubisky didn’t have much success otherwise. He won just 29 of his 51 career starts with Chicago and averaged just 208 yards passing per game.

While the jury is still out on what kind of career Fields will have, the early returns don’t seem promising. The 23-year-old signal-caller has just four wins and nine touchdown passes in his first 13 starts, and he’s averaging just 167 yards passing per game.