Chicago Bear quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has made a strong argument as to why he should be the last player to turn down his option for fifth year just to cash in on that decision.
In the eyes of some NFL executives, Trubisky has recently played some of the best football games of his career, and argues why Chicago should consider re-signing him.
Trubisky’s chances of returning to Chicago next season would be even greater if the Bears (7-7) can win their last two regular season games and secure a playoff berth.
Trubisky and Bears coach Matt Nagy have jointly set a 24-12 record in games Trubisky has started, as he will do against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Bears are 3-7 below Nagy in games that Trubisky has not started.
Trubisky’s performance and record has led some in the Bears organization to wonder what would have happened this season had the 2017 No. 2 pick not been benched when the Bears were 3-0.
Chicago is 2-5 this season with Nick Foles as the starting quarterback, averaging just 17 points in those games.
But with Trubisky re-deployed as the starting quarterback, the offense has averaged 31 points over the past four games – and Chicago is back in the playoff battle. The Bears, determining their own fate thanks to the Cardinals’ upset loss on Saturday against the 49ers, visit the Jaguars with one win on Sunday before closing their season at home against the rival Packers.
An NFL manager told ESPN this week that, with the way Trubisky played the piece, Chicago will now have to consider bringing him back – a possibility that seemed hard to imagine after sitting on the bench this season.
Trubisky’s chances of staying in Chicago for a long time also seemed slim after the Bears rejected his fifth-year option last May – two months after acquiring Foles in a trade with Jacksonville.
But Trubisky has a strong close to the season, joining Titans recipient Corey Davis as 2017’s first round of draft picks to take their fifth-year option down and then thrive in 2020.
Chicago’s late-season shift to more play-action passing seems to have made a difference for the 26-year-old quarterback, who has used his young playmakers in 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 in Chicago’s past four games.
The stretch drive has impressed some of the league executives, but one person pointed out that Trubisky’s recent success isn’t all that new.
Over the past three years, Trubisky’s win rate (66.7%) is better than several other first-round quarterbacks during their years 2-4 stretch, such as Carson Wentz (62.5%), Deshaun Watson (55 , 6%), Baker Mayfield (53.3%) and Ryan Tannehill (45.8%).