Nothing Trubisky Does This Year Warrants New Deal
Matt Nagy was describing Mitchell Trubisky's recent success and the Chicago Bears offensive improvement, when he tossed in one key phrase.
"You can feel it, you can see the growth," Nagy said.
This is what Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace have talked about repeatedly, and Trubisky has been repeating along with them.
"Steady incremental improvement" is what Pace wanted to see and the Bears apparently are witnessing a developing quarterback reaching a new plateau.
They thought this when last year ended, though, and then the offense and Trubisky regressed until three or four weeks ago.
Trubisky's play in the last three games, all wins, has obviously been better, but the Bears have maintained it's gone back as far as five games ago or more.
In the last five games, his passer rating has been 91.1 and that's solid. He's had better yards per pass attempt and yards after the catch came in the last three, and particularly against Dallas. His passer rating is 99.1 and yards an attempt are a very professional 7.82.
"We didn't take a whole lot of shots," Nagy said. "But the RAC yards was good (Thursday). You could see how effective it can be."
The issue the Bears have to face is whether they need to make some type of longer-term commitment now to Trubisky if this type of play continues against three playoff-level teams over the next three weeks.
Of course the answer is no. It makes little sense to spend money when it doesn't need to be spent and the potential for disaster still exists. It's far better to punt the issue into the future because of other circumstances.
In a sense, the Bears need 2020 vision when it comes to assessing Trubisky. They need to see games next year, as well.
They could find ways to give Trubisky a big contract after three seasons in the fashion of the $137.25 million Carson Wentz received or the $134 million extension for four years given Jared Goff.
Just because someone else made a mistake by paying out big money too early for young quarterbacks doesn't mean the Bears are required to do it.
Frankly, it wouldn't make much sense from Trubisky's standpoint to get a deal now, either. If he truly has started to ascend, he'll be worth so much more next year when he's proven himself to a greater extent.
The Bears have other money issues to address in the coming offseason more pressing than giving Trubisky money he really hasn't done enough to earn.
Even if he produces three straight victories and continues improved play through this season, and shows he's at another plateau, he still hasn't proven enough to warrant the extension.
The Bears have to give a contract extension to wide receiver Allen Robinson, whose play this year certainly warrants it. He signed on only for three years and it's up in 2019.
They have to find money for safety Eddie Jackson's contract extension. They must decide whether Tarik Cohen and his 3.1 yards per rushing attempt and 5.5 yards per reception warrant an extension and how much. They have the issue of whether to spend money on Danny Trevathan or Nick Kwiatkoski or both or neither. Safeties Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Deon Bush both are out of contracts after this year and would be in line ahead of a quarterback who played so erratically so recently.
Trubisky's $735,000 salary next year gives the Bears at least a few more games into next year to verify this growth they say is happening.
They can always opt for the fifth-year option on his contract for around $24 million in 2021 if they want, using it as a type of franchise tag.
One of the big appeals of having a strong defense and a quarterback still in his first contract is it allows for other positions to be solidified longer term, and the Bears need to continue doing this.
It makes little sense for them to rush into losing this advantage in the offseason.
And it makes even less sense when the quarterback has shown in the past he's capable of regressing, like he obviously did earlier this season.
He's already shown steady, incremental improvement can be regression or stagnation. The Bears can't afford committing so much of their cap to chance.
Twitter@BearsOnMaven
