Imrem: Can Mike Glennon really be the answer for Chicago Bears?
Mike Glennon?
Really?
Mike Glennon?
The Chicago Bears were supposed to fix their quarterback predicament. Instead, it looks like they're merely changing it from Jay Cutler to the next Jay Cutler.
Indications Wednesday were that the Bears will sign Mike Glennon as a free agent.
Former NFL general manager Charley Casserly's take on the NFL Network: Inconsistent thrower … inconsistent decision-maker … bridge quarterback.
This move would be encouraging only if Bears GM Ryan Pace announced Glennon is a stopgap; that the Bears would draft a QB high - perhaps as high as No. 3 overall - in April with the purpose of him becoming the starter sooner than later; that Glennon's contract is structured so the Bears aren't hamstrung if he turns out to be a bust.
As of now, Glennon isn't as inspiring as trading for Jimmy Garoppolo would be or trading for Cutler was eight years ago.
The Bears must think that adding any quarterback is OK as long as they're subtracting Cutler.
Look, Glennon is a legitimate NFL quarterback, but he'll have to prove his upside is higher than career backup.
If anything, Glennon deserves our sympathy: The Bears are where quarterbacks go to die as much as he is where teams go to be mediocre.
The Bears still are paying for not selecting Garoppolo in the second round of the 2014 college draft.
The Arlington Heights native, Rolling Meadows High grad and Eastern Illinois product could have played behind Cutler for three years.
By now the Bears would have an idea of whether Garoppolo is good enough to assume the starting QB role.
The Garoppolo scenario would have had Bears faithful giddy … if the quarterback culture at Halas Hall hadn't turned him into another of their failed flingers by now.
Then-general manager Phil Emery passed on Garoppolo, and the Bears still are searching for a quarterback fix.
Come on down … Mike Glennon?
Maybe it shouldn't be surprising if this signing is finalized.
Pace came to Chicago from the New Orleans. The Saints won a Super Bowl after signing free-agent quarterback Drew Brees, who arrived from San Diego with a surgically repaired throwing shoulder.
Even a QB with an injury history who played in the NFL is safer than trying to project a QB's transition from college to the pros. The Saints saw Brees play for the Chargers; Pace saw Glennon play for the Buccaneers.
But seriously … Mike Glennon?
Pace must have liked Glennon coming out of North Carolina State, then with Tampa Bay, and had him on his to-do list ever since.
Maybe Pace's attention was piqued again when the Buccaneers drafted Jameis Winston with the overall No. 1 pick, eventually making Glennon expendable and available.
Well, here Mike Glennon is, at 27 years of age, entering his fifth NFL season, the only certainty being that he has a great first name for a quarterback.
(Mike! Mike! Mike!)
Does Pace think the Bears can win because of Glennon or even just with him? Can he be "the guy" at quarterback or "just a guy"? What was he promised to sign here so quickly?
That many questions wouldn't be swirling if the Bears fixed their quarterback predicament instead of merely changed it.
The most prominent of those questions being … Mike Glennon?
mimrem@dailyherald.com