Subtract Two More Opportunities

When one quarterback makes an offseason move, it so often seems to affect other quarterbacks and other teams.

Comeback Player of the Year Alex Smith retired on Monday and as a result there was a residual effect reaching the Bears.

Nick Foles' spot as the Bears backup to Andy Dalton looks all the more secure now as a result of Smith's decision.

It's long been thought the Bears could be interested in Smith as a potential backup if they decided to trade Foles, largely because of coach Matt Nagy's past ties with him from Kansas City.

Foles has now been in the Bears offense for a year and should be valuable in both helping Dalton learn the attack but also for pushing Dalton. Foles' play last year was anything but stellar but he had what essentially were 15 on-field practices to try and win the position from Mitchell Trubisky and display a knowledge of the offense.

Even if the Bears draft a quarterback in the first two rounds, it would seem unlikely they'd trade Foles. The ideal setup is to have a rookie quarterback learning on the side his first year, much like Green Bay did with Jordan Love watching, Aaron Rodgers playing and Tim Boyle the backup.

It almost seemed the Bears lost two chances at quarterbacks in one fell swoop.

Another interesting aspect of Smith's retirement came to light with his announcement. He revealed on ESPN's Inside the Lines that he had visited his former college coach, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer and debated signing with them.

If Smith had signed with the Jaguars, it would have opened up the possiblity of another quarterback coming available for trade on draft day because Jacksonville would have had little use for Gardner Minshew.

Since Minshew is on his rookie contract and still taking low pay in his third year, it would make sense now for the Jaguars simply to keep him until after this season before trying to trade him and recoup some value then before his final contract year.

With Trevor Lawrence coming into the league, Minshew will have no starting opportunity with Jacksonville.

So it's almost like two chances at quarterbacks in one for the Bears, who have to be focused now on drafting a passer.

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