Bears Made the Safe Call in Trading for Nick Foles

It's going to take some getting used to for many Bears fans after Nick Foles beat the Bears in the 2018 playoffs, but he is their new quarterback.

The trade the Bears made Wednesday to acquire Jacksonville's quarterback was the safest and best fit as they head into a make-or-break season for starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and general manager Ryan Pace.

Foles is safe partly because he'll take up the smallest amount of cash of the three quarterbacks being considered, the other two being Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

Foles' salary was for $15.125 million this year and the Bears reportedly have worked out a restructured deal with him to lessen the initial impact and help their cap situation. Newton was at $18.6 million in salary and Dalton at $17.5 million salary.

Every dollar counts here because the Bears are trying to replace a starting safety as well as possibly a cornerback and wide receiver.

Nick foles has as many Super Bowls as Aaron Rodgers people forget that
— Caleb (@chet_steadman00) March 18, 2020

Beyond cash, the risk with Newton was a serious one because of his lisfranc ligament injury last year. He had the surgery in December and the only way the Bears could have verified his health was with a physical. Currently it's difficult in the NFL for a team's physicians to check a player's physical condition because the coronavirus has caused the league to shut down facilities and travel.

Anyone is better than a lone Trubisky starting Bears squad. Foles is my Arizona brother, he can get hot, we've seen before. He will read his coverages and make his throws.
— Lance Briggs (@LanceBriggs) March 18, 2020

Also, Newton's playing style is reckless and dangerous as it is spectacular. A team committing this much cash for a quarterback can't afford to spend it on someone who might be injured.

Newton also is a quarterback who hasn't worked with any Bears offensive coach in the past while both Foles and Andy Dalton have.

Dalton had worked under Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor from 2016-2018 with limited success.

Foles carries along the least surprises of the three for the Bears because he has been in the offense the Bears run, first with Kansas City and then with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played under Bears quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo with the Eagles as well as with the Jaguars.

Foles might have been the most successful quarterback of the three, as well. He is 26-22 starting in his career, 7-6 since the start of 2016. Dalton is 70-61-2 but was 20-35-1 over the last four years. Newton was 68-66-1 as a starter but 23-23-0 over his last four years.

The fit within a team is huge and Foles has been able to go easily between backup to starter to backup and did it as recently as last season. Neither Dalton nor Newton have done this.

Because Foles knows the offense well, he can be up and running in it in the shortest amount of time. This could be critical in a year when there might not be much of an offseason or even training camp due to the coronavirus. Both Dalton and Newton would have needed more time to learn it.

The bottom line is Newton and possibly Dalton might have been viewed as picks more fun to some, but to the Bears the fit on many levels was much better with Foles for the team, as well as with Trubisky.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven