If you scour the web for analysis on the Andy Dalton signing or the state of the Bears’ quarterback room, you’d be hard pressed to find positive thinking. Most people are down on the Bears, especially after weeks of Russell Wilson trade hype were never realized. But former defensive end and Super Bowl champion Chris Canty may have just raised the bar for all the sharp criticism circulating around Halas Hall.
“With where they’re at right now, they have the worst quarterback situation in the division,” Canty said on “Get Up” Thursday morning. “That’s really where they were last year, but you can make an argument that 2021 will be worse. Because Andy Dalton, last year, with better weapons than Mitch Trubisky, had a worse QBR.”
It’s reasonable to make that connection. While Allen Robinson is better than any wide receiver in Dallas, the whole arsenal of weapons that the Cowboys field, including Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Ezekiel Elliott, trumps the cast in Chicago. Improved offensive line play for the Bears could help everyone play better however. If Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet continue to develop in their sophomore seasons, too, that gap between skill players in Dallas and Chicago could shrink.
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“I just don’t understand why they were in a rush to sign Andy Dalton and give him a $10 million contract, when the quarterback that had them in the playoffs a year ago just signed with Buffalo for $2.5 million,” Canty said.
It’s true that’s a pretty big disparity for two quarterbacks who, at least statistically, played similarly last season. Who knows, maybe by saving $7.5 million on their quarterback, Ryan Pace will have had the wiggle room to keep Kyle Fuller this season or offer him a more attractive extension in contract negotiations. But realistically, it appeared that both the Bears and Trubisky were looking for a change. The Matt Nagy/Trubisky union had run its course, and it was clear that both sides would benefit from a split.
Even if the Bears finished their quarterback evaluations and determined Trubisky was the best fit for the team, multiple reports throughout the offseason said Trubisky was holding out to find the best fit to revitalize his career. Ultimately, he found a match in Buffalo backing up Josh Allen in an offense that uses plenty of designed runs for the quarterback.
But again, this was likely a mutual decision, not just on Trubisky. From that point of view, Canty really ripped into Pace and the Bears.
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“They made a change for change’s sake. There’s no way they think that Andy Dalton is an upgrade over Mitchell Trubisky. So you would think the general manager that actually made the decision to draft Mitch would’ve kept with him for one more year until he found a better alternative. He went out and found a worse alternative, and he paid more money for it. Makes no sense.”
Related: Cowherd: Matt Nagy needs to escape the Bears
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