The Bears are signing veteran Mark Sanchez, two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed Thursday night. The signing gives the Bears three quarterbacks on the roster and seems to give them leeway to use their top draft picks on other positions next month.
Sanchez, a first-round pick by the Jets in 2009, appeared in two games for the Cowboys last season and attempted only 18 passes. He backed up quarterback Dak Prescott, who won NFL offensive rookie of the year honors as a fourth-round pick.
In four appearances (two starts) for the Eagles in 2015, Sanchez completed 64.8 percent of his passes and had four touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Bears preferred Sanchez to other veteran free-agent quarterbacks available, including T.J. Yates, Matt Schaub, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, Robert Griffin III, Dan Orlovsky and Christian Ponder.
