Ain’t that a Mitch
Bears decline fifth-year option on QB Trubisky
The Chicago Bears declined the fifth-year option on the rookie contract of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, multiple media outlets reported on Saturday.
Trubisky is guaranteed about US$4.5 million between base salary and roster bonuses in 2020. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Trubisky would have received approximately $24 million for the 2021 season — guaranteed only for injury — if the Bears picked up the option.
General manager Ryan Pace told reporters recently that there will be an “open competition” between Trubisky and veteran Nick Foles, who was acquired by the Bears for a fourth-round pick this off-season.
The Bears selected Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, trading up one spot from No. 3. In his second season, he helped Chicago to a 12-4 record and the NFC North title, but the Bears lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card playoff round.
Trubisky made the Pro Bowl in 2018, completing 66.6% of his passes for 3,223 yards with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. But the 25-year-old regressed in 2019, connecting in just 63.2% of passes with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as the Bears missed the playoffs.
Foles, 31, spent last season in Jacksonville, which signed him to a four-year, $88-million contract. The veteran backup, who won the 2018 Super Bowl MVP when he filled in for Carson Wentz for the Eagles, broke his collarbone in the season opener and eventually lost the starting spot to rookie Gardner Minshew.
Foles agreed to give up the $56.9 million remaining on his Jaguars deal and instead shifted his base pay to a fully guaranteed, three-year, $24-million deal with
Chicago. That includes an optout clause after the 2020 season and $8 million in 2020.
Foles threw for just 736 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in four games last season. He has passed for 11,901 yards with 71 touchdowns and 35 interceptions in 58 games with the Eagles (2012-14, 2017-18), then-St. Louis Rams (2015), Chiefs (2016) and Jaguars (2019).
LINDSAY INITIALLY UPSET
Running back Phillip Lindsay admitted he initially was “really upset” after the
Denver Broncos signed free agent Melvin Gordon to a two-year, $16 million contract.
Lindsay, after all, likely was in line for a bigger paycheque after eclipsing the 1,000-yard plateau in each of his first two seasons and securing a Pro Bowl selection in 2018.
Lindsay, 25, opened up about his feelings with Pro Football Hall of Fame member Terrell Davis in a conversation on Instagram Live.
“It caught me off-guard because it was like, ‘OK, I’ve put in the work and done all this’ and it makes it seem like they don’t respect you enough to know the work you’re putting in,” Lindsay told Davis. “So I was really upset at the beginning, I’m not going to lie.
“But then I started to think — and I’m like, ‘OK, the thing is this’ — if something happens to me or something happens to him, it’s hard. When I wasn’t in the game, stuff was not going as well or smooth. But if you have somebody that can complement me like I did my rookie year where I’m not just running up the middle trying to get first downs all day. I was like,
‘OK, this takes some pressure off me. Now I can do my job and use my speed do my stuff and stay healthier, too.’”
Gordon, 27, rushed for a career-low 612 yards in 12 games (11 starts) last season and averaged just 3.8 yards per carry for the Los Angeles Chargers. His season got a delayed start after a contract holdout that ran into late September.
FORMER BEARS TE DIES
Former Chicago Bears tight end Ryan Wetnight died on Friday after a battle with cancer, the team announced. He was 49.
Wetnight was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour in his stomach in September, per the Bears’ official website. He initially was treated for gastric cancer in 2018 and briefly was declared cancer-free.
“Our hearts are heavy with the news of former Bears TE Ryan Wetnight’s passing after a courageous battle with cancer,” the Bears wrote on their Twitter account. “Our thoughts go out to his family, friends & loved ones.”
Wetnight, a Stanford product, recorded 175 receptions for 1,542 yards and nine touchdowns in 101 career games with the Bears (1993-99) and Green Bay Packers (2000).
BUCCANEERS CLAIM FRY
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed kicker Elliott Fry off waivers from the Carolina Panthers.
Fry, 25, was with the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens in the 2019 preseason but was cut by both teams. He signed a futures contract with the Panthers in December.
An undrafted free agent from South Carolina, Fry took part in the rookie minicamp with the Buccaneers in 2017.
His professional regularseason experience came in 2019 with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football, and he was 14-of-14 on field goal attempts, including a long of 47 yards.