Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has argued strongly why he should be the last player to turn down his fifth-year option, just to charge for that decision.
In the eyes of some NFL executives, Trubisky has recently played some of the best footballers of his career, arguing why Chicago will have to consider signing him again.
Trubisky’s chances of returning to Chicago next season would be even greater if the Bears (7-7) were able to win their last two games of the regular season and secure a spot for the playoffs.
Trubisky and Bears coach Matt Nagy have teamed up to record a 24-12 record in the games Trubisky has started, as he will do so on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bears are 3-7 under Nagy in games that Trubisky hasn’t started.
Trubisky’s performance and record have now left the Bears organization wondering what could have happened this season if the 2017 No. 2 general election hadn’t come to light when the Bears went 3-0.
Chicago is 2-5 this season with Nick Foles as the starting quarterback, averaging just 17 points in those games.
But since Trubisky was reintroduced as the starting quarterback, the offense has averaged 31 points in his last four games, and Chicago is back in the playoffs. The Bears, who control their own destiny thanks to the Cardinals’ loss to the 49ers on Saturday, visit the Jaguars on Sunday with a single win before ending the season at home against rival Packers.
An NFL executive told ESPN this week that with the way Trubisky has narrowed the stretch, Chicago will have to consider returning it, a possibility that seemed hard to imagine after being invested this season.
Trubisky’s chances of staying in Chicago long-term also appeared slim after the Bears turned down his fifth-year option last May, two months after they acquired Foles in a trade with Jacksonville.
But Trubisky has a strong season finale, joining Titans receiver Corey Davis, when the 2017 first-round draft picks his fifth-year pick and then thrives in 2020.
Chicago’s end-of-season change to more action-game passes seems to have made a difference for the 26-year-old quarterback, who has used his young players Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet, Anthony Miller, David Montgomery and Allen Robinson . Trubisky has completed 68% of his passes with eight touchdowns and just three interceptions over Chicago’s last four games.
The pull has impressed some league executives, but one person has pointed out that Trubisky’s recent success isn’t that new.
In the last three years, Trubisky’s winning percentage (66.7%) is better than those sent by other first-round quarterbacks during the 2-4 year stretch, such as Carson Wentz (62.5%), Deshaun Watson ( 55.6%), Baker Mayfield (53.3%) and Ryan Tannehill (45.8%).