It was inevitable. Once the new league year opened Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Bears were going to make the signing of quarterback Andy Dalton official.
One day prior, reports came out indicating that Chicago had inked Dalton to a one-year, $10 million contract. After being linked to both Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson on the trade block, this sent the Bears’ Super Bowl odds plummeting big time.
It’s not that Red Rifle hasn’t put in a good career. Rather, the idea of the Chicago Bears’ embattled brass relying on a quarterback who is a half-decade removed from performing at a Pro Bowl level just didn’t make much sense.
Head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace are firmly on the hot seat after an eight-win season. Having Dalton compete with Nick Foles for the starting job in 2021 is a less-than-stellar scenario. Once Chicago made the Dalton signing official, reactions were aplenty.
Chicago Bears get roasted over Andy Dalton signing
Chicago Bears did offer up the farm for Russell Wilson
If they end up going quietly into the night, it was not for a lack of effort from Pace and Nagy. Reports surfaced on Wednesday that the Bears offered up three first-round picks, a third-round pick and two starting players in exchange for the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Seattle was unwilling to budge despite some major issues between Russell Wilson and the organization. As for the Bears, they were also in on Deshaun Watson before making the move for Dalton.
That’s something Chicago’s brass might be able to rehash once the Houston Texans join the rest of us in reality and actually start taking trade calls for Watson.
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