Bears could trade Bagent for pick and add Tannehill behind Williams
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General Manager Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears are one of the youngest teams in the NFL at quarterback, which is redundant for them as rookie Caleb Williams is already a starter. However, for the right candidate, his talent and youth could prove to be a valuable asset at the position.
Tyson Bagent joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent ahead of the 2023 season. He beat out PJ Walker in the preseason to be the backup player behind Justin Fields, even though Chicago had just signed Walker to the position on a two-year deal worth over $4 million.
The 24-year-old Bagent played quite well in four and a half games in Fields’ place, leading the Bears to a 2-2 record as a starter. Chicago landed the first pick in that year’s draft and selected Williams, which ultimately led to the franchise trading Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fields is competing fiercely with Russell Wilson for a starting spot in the AFC North and could get it. However, Steve Palazzolo of The 33rd Team recently raised an interesting question about Bagent in the context of the Steelers’ quarterback battle, the basis of which should be of interest to the Bears.
“Would Bagent start for the Steelers?” Palazzolo posted on X on Friday, August 23.
“Bagent would have hit Fields if (the Bears) never traded him,” Mike Renner of CBS Sports responded to Palazzolo’s post.
Regardless of whether Bagent would start for Pittsburgh or would have eventually beat out Fields for the starting spot in Chicago if Williams never ended up there, the fact that either is/was even possible points to Bagent’s inherent trade value, which the Bears could use to their advantage if needed.
Tyson Bagent could compete for starting spots on teams like the Raiders
GettyQuarterback Tyson Bagent of the Chicago Bears.
Ted Nguyen of The Athletic recently floated the idea that the Bears could trade Bagent to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a Day 2 pick.
“The Raiders should offer Tyson Bagent a (fourth-round pick), why not,” Nguyen posted on X on August 19.
Las Vegas recently named Gardner Minshew the starter, preferring second-year player Aidan O’Connell over him. Not only has Bagent been able to compete with O’Connell for the No. 2 spot from the start, he showed last season that he could potentially play his way into the starting lineup.
Bagent managed games well for the Bears during his rookie season, completing 65.7% of his passes for 859 yards, 3 TDs and 6 INTs. He also ran the football 23 times for 109 yards and 2 scores.
While the turnover issue is a warning sign, there are two caveats. First, Bagent was catapulted into the starting lineup by an injury in the NFL despite never having started a Division I game. Bagent played college football at Division II Shepherd West Virginia, where he set the NCAA record for most touchdown passes of any division with 159.
The second reason is that the Bears didn’t have much support around him last year aside from wide receiver DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet, and Chicago’s offensive line was shaky when it wasn’t weakened by injuries.
It would be better for the Bears if an experienced veteran would support Caleb Williams in his rookie year
GettyQuarterback Tyson Bagent of the Chicago Bears.
A handful of NFL teams are in a similar position to the Raiders, which should open up a market beyond Las Vegas for the Bears if they decide to trade Bagent. And the reason for that is the inherent risk of using a second-year player to replace a rookie QB.
This is exactly why Chicago brought in four-year NFL veteran Brett Rypien this offseason to compete with Bagent. Arguing for both Bagent’s trade value and that the Bears should consider him is a double-edged sword, but context can make the two arguments valid simultaneously.
In theory, Bagent could compete with a veteran on a mediocre team for a starting and/or backup position, while the Bears want a seasoned veteran with playoff experience – such as Ryan Tannehill – behind Williams in case the rookie gets injured during a potential run to the playoffs.
Tannehill is a free agent with a market value of nearly $8 million for the upcoming season, and Chicago has $21.5 million in salary cap space and some incentive to spend some of it on quarterback insurance. Additionally, a fourth-round pick (or something in that range) is a sensible draft asset in exchange for a player who will likely never play a major role in a franchise’s future.
The Bears traded a fourth-round pick for wide receiver Keenan Allen this offseason, as well as a 2025 fourth-round pick for the right to select rookie edge rusher Austin Booker in this year’s fifth round. If Bagent can bring back that kind of asset in the trade, it would be irresponsible of the Bears not to at least consider it.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, focusing on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and national news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and was news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
