The Bears Love Their Quarterbacks

With Rex Grossman getting a one-year deal over the weekend, a move I actually don't mind that much despite yesterday's post, it brought up some questions as to what the Bears are really planning on doing with the quarterback position next season.

They answered part of it last night when they announced they'd also signed the league's best Neckbeard to a one-year extension as well.

The Bears and quarterback Kyle Orton agreed to a one-year contract extension through 2009. Orton, who is 12-6 as a starter with the Bears, will compete with Rex Grossman for the starting job. Grossman agreed to a one-year contract rather than testing the free-agent market.

Orton finished the season as the Bears' starter, leading the team to victory in the final two games. He set a team rookie record with 10 wins in 2005.

I'm also willing to bet that Brian Griese will be released in the near future before he's due a $300,000 roster bonus.

So who is the third quarterback going to be? For anyone who had been holding out hope that the Bears would work out a deal with the Eagles this offseason for Donovan McNabb, that scenario looks less likely every single day. I haven't even heard news that the Bears have had contact with the Eagles, let alone have begun to work out a deal for Donovan.

There's still a possibility that the Bears can sign Cleveland's Derek Anderson, as Anderson and the Browns have until Thursday to work out a deal, or Derek gets to shop himself around. The Browns have reportedly offered a three-year deal, but even if they don't come to terms they'll still tender him a contract, and be given the right to match any offer Anderson gets on the free agent market.

Though with all the needs this Bears team has, I'm not sure they're going to be willing to spend a big chunk of their cap space on a new quarterback. No, the fact that they've re-signed both Grossman and Orton to one-year deals tells me that they'd like to draft a quarterback in this year's draft and hope that either Orton or Grossman don't mess things up too badly this season.

Always a comforting thought.

I'm guessing the Bears won't want to draft a quarterback in the first round. Mostly because there really isn't a quarterback in this year's draft still available when the Bears pick that's worth a first-round pick, not to mention the fact that a first round quarterback selected in this city is doomed to fail anyway. With the amount of hatred out there for Grossman right now, whichever quarterback the Bears drafted would be expected to lead the team to the Super Bowl, cure cancer, and land the 2016 Olympic bid before he ever set foot on the field.

All of which means that no matter what he did, he'd be a failure.

Of the quarterbacks that may or may not be available in later rounds, I personally like Chad Henne, but he scares me at the same time. He's a big guy (though he's only 6'2), with a good arm, but he does lack mobility and he seemed to struggle in big games in college. Does that sound like anybody on the Bears roster you already know?

After Henne there's Delaware's Joe Flacco, who I've never seen play so I can only go off what the scouts say. He is 6'6 though with a good arm, good footwork, and he seems to be able to sense a pass rush pretty well and move out of the way. The bad news? He played in a shotgun oriented offense and had trouble handling snaps at the Senior Bowl.

Oh, and there's the fact he played at Delaware, so who knows how in the hell he'll adjust to the NFL game.

The thing that matters here is that no matter how things turn out, the Bears aren't going to be bringing in a new quarterback that's ready to take over the offensive reins this season. We're just going to have to suffer through another season of praying our quarterback doesn't mess things up too badly.

Luckily, since we're Bears fans, we're all used to it.

Then in the 5th round the Bears will draft Anthony Morelli out of Penn State just because he didn't torture me enough while he was in college.

Notre Dame Might Win On Saturday

For the second straight year, I won't be able to watch the Notre Dame/Michigan game. This is incredibly painful for me. Last year it was due to the wedding of my cousin Keith. This year it's because of the wedding of my twin sister, Megan.

I thought there was a special bond between us, being twins and all, that would have kept my sister from scheduling her wedding for this day. I even told her last year at Keith's wedding, "Don't fucking have yours on Notre Dame/Michigan, or I'm not going."

I mean, her husband is a huge Notre Dame fan as well, how could he let this happen!?

The worst part of all this? Notre Dame might actually win on Saturday. That's right, win. A football game. With that offensive line.

Why is that? Because when Jimmy Clausen takes the field for his second career start, he'll be the most experienced quarterback on the field. Chad Henne will not be playing for the Wolverines.

Injured Michigan quarterback Chad Henne will not play against Notre Dame.

Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr did not provide a timetable for Henne's return, listing him Monday as week-to-week. The senior was knocked out of the second half of Saturday's 39-7 loss to Oregon.

That means freshman Ryan Mallet will be starting for Michigan, the same guy who went 6-for-17 for 49 yards in the second half against Oregon.

Of course, Michigan will still have Mike Hart, and he's not lacking in confidence.

"We're going to win next week," Hart said. "There's no question in my mind. I guarantee we will win next week. I'm going to get this team ready. Guaranteed."

Keep in mind though, that Hart felt the exact same way about Appalachian State and Oregon.