You watch: Grossman will be with Bears in '08

LANDOVER, Md. -- When he walked off the field through gritted teeth, the pain in his knee finally worse than the burden of being the Bears' starting quarterback, it would have been only natural for Rex Grossman to wonder if his latest injury signaled the final play of his Bears career.

Ironically, the opposite could be true.

Grossman may have actually ensured -- with another potentially season-ending injury -- that he returns to Chicago in 2008, based on the lack of interest he'll draw in free agency.

Combine that with the lack of decent QBs on the open market and it's probably in both the Bears' and Grossman's best interests to have him come back at a low price.

Especially, when you consider that the Bears need about 12 or 13 new starters, a point driven home by the Bears' hideous 24-16 loss at Washington on Thursday that ended their absurd dream of returning to the playoffs.

"It didn't look good when (Grossman) was injured,'' said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "Both of them (including DT Antonio Garay) have serious lower leg injuries that will take awhile.''

Grossman was struggling before he was injured only 4:02 into the contest, when Washington defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin put a nasty hit on Grossman's lower left leg.

He stayed down for a couple minutes before insisting he walk off the field on his own. He also waved off a cart and toughed it out all the way to the locker room, where he was immediately declared out for the game with a left knee injury.

It's the side of Grossman you can't help but like, the side that limped off probably for the year, refusing even to put a hand on a trainer's shoulder as he grimaced down the sideline, before disappearing into the tunnel.

As much as he'll cost to bring back under the circumstances, there's almost no reason not to sign Grossman again.

Most NFL types we spoke to Thursday night believe neither side has any leverage here.

Or any choice.

The Bears have seen enough of Brian Griese to know he's no long-term answer, and after ignoring Kyle Orton for two full years, anything he does now isn't likely to be pretty or a reasonable sample of what he can do as a starter.

Orton, though, should start the final three games of the season after standing around since December 2005, when Grossman replaced him.

To determine whether Orton's the answer to any question the Bears can ask, he's got to play, and not just in garbage time late in the season when his teammates have packed it in and nothing's at stake.

Perhaps -- perhaps -- after preventing anyone from competing with Grossman the past few years, a genuine QB derby will take place next summer, the time of year when the Bears annually proclaim Grossman the next Joe Namath.

But Grossman's value always goes up when he's not on the field, and he's not likely to be back this season.

So if it sounds like the future might look a lot like the present, well, it certainly could.

After all, if the Bears haven't given up on Grossman to this point, it doesn't make sense to kick him to the curb now when he'll be cheap to sign and maybe even a little more humble.

If, on the other hand, it is the end of Grossman's Bears career, he goes out with the ultimate metaphor, and an image Bears fans have come to expect:

A limp.