The Chicago Bears have been a franchise stuck in football purgatory because of one position. And no, it’s not kicker. Chicago’s list of failed quarterbacks is almost as long as their list of Hall of Famers — which in itself is a lot.
With news that Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy will return in 2021, they have at least one more year to fix this team, which starts at quarterback.
One decision that has haunted Pace — and will continue to haunt him through his career — is passing on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Now, Mitchell Trubisky appears headed on his way out of Chicago — which is probably for the best for both sides — and the Bears are left with continued questions at quarterback while Mahomes and Watson continue to light the league on fire.
While there’s pretty much zero chance of it happening, there has been speculation about Watson wanting out of Houston following some tension that has upset their franchise player.
If the impossible were to happen — if the Texans were to actually out-do themselves after the DeAndre Hopkins trade and trade Watson — there would be no shortage of Bears fans clamoring for the franchise to right their initial wrong of passing on Watson. And you’d expect the guys with their jobs on the line to try and right the ship with one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.
ESPN First Take’s Max Kellerman is someone that is adamant about the Bears going out and trading for Watson, but he also believes it would be best for Watson.
.@maxkellerman strongly believes that Deshaun Watson needs to be traded to the Chicago Bears 👀
"He would have a chance to be an icon unlike he would be anywhere else!" pic.twitter.com/4MB9YdwVsD
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 13, 2021
“I know it ain’t ‘no taxes,’ and it’s cold weather, I get all that,” Kellerman said. “Chicago is a football obsessed city… The ‘85 Bears are probably the greatest team ever, and it’s their only Super Bowl championship. The Bears are a franchise who’ve never really had a great quarterback in the Super Bowl era. You’re talking about Sid Luckman in the ‘50s? Are people crazy? In the Super Bowl era, who’s been their best quarterback? McMahon? Are people serious? Rex Grossman? Jay Cutler? When Jay Cutler is one of your three best quarterbacks of the Super Bowl era— Jim Harbaugh, better known for coaching?— you have a real problem.
“From Deshaun Watson’s point of view, he has a chance to become an icon, unlike he would be anywhere else. If he delivered a single Super Bowl to the Chicago Bears, he would occupy a space in the cultural landscape, the American sports imagination, that very few occupy. Because of how great he is, because of the storied franchise he’d be playing for, and because he delivered them finally, from a drought since 1985.”
Kellerman isn’t wrong. If Watson — or any quarterback, for that matter — were to deliver a Super Bowl to this franchise, they’d be a legend forever. After all, people still talk about the ’85 Bears like it happened a few years ago rather than 35.
Of course there’s the fact of the matter that Pace didn’t even bother to speak to Watson during the pre-draft process, which surely would deter Watson. But Kellerman argues that it makes all the sense in the world.
“It’s even bigger than that because the Bears botched the Deshaun Watson draft,” he said. “They took Trubisky. They moved up to take him, and they have a chance to make that right. It makes all the sense in the world.
“Deshaun Watson should want it, and so should the Bears, and that’s where he should go. They should try to make that happen.”
While it’s certainly nice to daydream about Watson donning that navy and orange, common sense tells us that there’s no chance of it happening. Unless someone invented a time machine.
