The Chicago Bears are locked into a quarterback with the top pick in the NFL draft after trading Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the team must also consider the backup position.
- Caleb Williams of USC is likely to end up the man in Chicago, both as the first name off the board in April and probably as the starter come Week 1. But the Bears are now primed to add a veteran signal-caller to help guide Williams through his transition to the league and offer a support system, as well as a legitimate alternative should the rookie suffer a setback — injury-related or otherwise.
Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report on Sunday, March 17 suggested former Tennessee Titans starter and current free agent Ryan Tannehill as a candidate for that job in Chicago.
The team may want a more experienced backup than 23-year-old Tyson Bagent to go alongside their young starter. Either [Zach] Wilson or Tannehill would fit that bill. More than likely, the Bears will let their rookie quarterback navigate the bumps and bruises of a rookie season as the starter. But having a veteran backup to help weather those treacherous waters is always helpful.
This may be a more logical destination for Tannehill than Wilson in that regard, given the former’s longer NFL career and the fact that Bagent showed some potential as a backup in the 2023 campaign.
Tannehill has played 12 years in the NFL, though he missed the entire 2017 campaign due to injury. He will play next season at 36 years old.
The veteran signal-caller began his career with the Miami Dolphins, who drafted him out of Texas A&M with the No. 8 overall pick in first round back in 2012. Tannehill served as the Dolphins’ starting QB through the 2018 season, after which Miami traded him to Tennessee.
Tannehill earned the first, and only, Pro Bowl nod of his career that year, during which he led the Titans to the AFC Championship Game. Tennessee went on to make the playoffs in each of the following two seasons as one of the conference’s best and most consistent teams over that stretch.
All told, Tannehill is 81-70 as a regular-season starter and owns a 2-3 mark in the playoffs. He has completed 64.3% of his passes for 34,881 yards, 216 TDs and 115 INTs, per Pro Football Reference.
Tannehill most recently played for the Titans on a four-year contract worth $118 million, which expired following the 2023 campaign.
He began the final season of that deal as the starter, before suffering an ankle injury in October. Rookie Will Levis stepped in for Tannehill and retained the starting job through the end of the year.
Despite serving as a starter when healthy for essentially his entire career, it appears now that Tannehill’s role in the NFL moving forward will be as a backup. As such, Spotrac projects his market value at just shy of $5 million over a new one-year deal.
That type of contract and Tannehill’s level of experience make the QB a perfect fit for Chicago, as the franchise ushers in a new era under Williams and continues to develop Bagent as its potential backup of the future.
The Bears have made several big-time moves this offseason, including the acquisitions of wide receiver Keenan Allen via trade and Pro Bowl running back D’Andre Swift in free agency. The team is ready to win in 2024, and Williams is the key to that plan. However, if Williams misses any significant period of time, Tannehill offers Chicago a safer and more proven option than Bagent in a competitive NFC North Division.
