Chicago Bears are all in with Andy Dalton. We will debate on whether it’s a good move or not come November or December. It could be. Dalton is a guy that has gotten teams to the playoffs in the past. But the 2020 season did not elicit confidence that Dalton could be that dude again. On Monday afternoon, the New York Jets traded Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers for a sixth-rounder this year and a second and a fourth for next year’s draft. Can someone explain to me why the Bears did not hold their horses or pull the trigger on something like this? This makes much more sense than Dalton long-term, but I don’t know if Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy can think that way.

Darnold is a guy that I will hang out on his island and have a few drinks. He is 23 years young. That is not old at all for a quarterback. He is the same age as Kyle Trask who will probably be drafted in the late first, early second this year. Adam Gase was his coach. Ryan Tannehill, a former top 10 pick, also coached by Gase got traded to Tennessee where he thrived and has made the playoffs the last two years. Now, Tannehill was older than Darnold, so, maybe the USC product will need more time. Still, that’s more than enough to spend a few draft picks on the kid.

But at the end of the day, the Chicago Bears mindset is now. And they need to make the playoffs now. Darnold probably doesn’t give you as good of a chance as Dalton does to make the playoffs. It could be even honestly, but it’s hard to project Darnold as a playoff quarterback after watching him on New York. Pace and Nagy are trying to convince ownership that they deserve to be extended. If things go south early, it could be ugly in the Windy City.

We’ll see if this is another quarterback decision that Chicago regrets long-term.

Charlie.