Leftwich

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

For the right price, I'd still like to see him brought in here. If Cutler gets hurt for 1 game or the whole year at the worst, we have Hanie coming in. Right now, we're an upper echelon NFC team and we need a serviceable QB in case Cutler goes down.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

If the Bears pick up Holt, than they are a superbowl contender and with that I don't think you can risk going through a season with one of Hanie/Basanez as your primary backups. I'm not saying our backup will be there to rescue us and win a superbowl if Cutler goes down for the season, but if we lose Jay for three or for games or just one or two, the backup could find a way to lead the Bears to a key victory or two that is necessary to get the Bears into the playoffs where Cutler comes back and dominates.

 

I'm thinking one year stop-gap and here's my rationale for why it would be a good move for the Bears and the specific player.

 

Leftwich would be a tremendous pickup, but that move won't happen for a while. If Leftwich is smart, he'll wait and see if someone gets hurt or if a QB job opens up where he'll have a pretty good job at competing for a starting spot. If he doesn't, Chicago wouldn't be a bad place for him to be just because he'd have a shot to win, but barring injury he'd have no shot at playing. However, if you couldn't find a spot where you could compete for a spot, Chicago wouldn't be bad because if things go well, they might sit Cutler one week and he'd at least be able to showcase himself at the end of the season. Plus, if Cutler went down for an extended period of time, he'd be on a good team which would help make him look better and hopefully if that did happen, he'd perform, win a few games, make himself more marketable while at the same time keeping the Bears a playoff team. Thats how I'd sell it at least.

 

Than there is Grossman. With Cutler coming in, the Bears are going to have to give him a ton of snaps and reps in mini camps since it will be his first year in the offense and with the playoffs, which might make it a bit harder to bring in another QB who doesn't have a knowledge of the offense (ie, Leftwich might have trouble getting up to speed enough since Cutler would really need so many reps, more so than say a guy like Manning whose been in the same system for years). Grossman is also a very capable backup who doesn't seem to have any starting options and given his comfort with the offense he could be just fine with limited reps. Plus, as a pure backup I think the hate for Grossman would diminish because I believe most of the shots had to deal more with the Bears not having a good QB (ie, Orton/Grossman) than fans really hating Grossman. Grossman might not do it, but he wouldn't have to answer the same questions he did in the past and as a whole I think the players respect the heck out of him and as a classy fan I respect him for the way he's handled anything. I wouldn't blame Rex if he never wanted anything to do with Bear fans or if he just wanted a clean break, but I do think from the Bears perspective he would be a great #2 QB for one more season (giving Hanie a bit more seasoning).

[madlithuanian]

Good points...except Grossman. The ship has sailed, please let is sail off into the sunset. I'd rather have Hanie in all honesty.

 

If the Bears pick up Holt, than they are a superbowl contender and with that I don't think you can risk going through a season with one of Hanie/Basanez as your primary backups. I'm not saying our backup will be there to rescue us and win a superbowl if Cutler goes down for the season, but if we lose Jay for three or for games or just one or two, the backup could find a way to lead the Bears to a key victory or two that is necessary to get the Bears into the playoffs where Cutler comes back and dominates.

 

I'm thinking one year stop-gap and here's my rationale for why it would be a good move for the Bears and the specific player.

 

Leftwich would be a tremendous pickup, but that move won't happen for a while. If Leftwich is smart, he'll wait and see if someone gets hurt or if a QB job opens up where he'll have a pretty good job at competing for a starting spot. If he doesn't, Chicago wouldn't be a bad place for him to be just because he'd have a shot to win, but barring injury he'd have no shot at playing. However, if you couldn't find a spot where you could compete for a spot, Chicago wouldn't be bad because if things go well, they might sit Cutler one week and he'd at least be able to showcase himself at the end of the season. Plus, if Cutler went down for an extended period of time, he'd be on a good team which would help make him look better and hopefully if that did happen, he'd perform, win a few games, make himself more marketable while at the same time keeping the Bears a playoff team. Thats how I'd sell it at least.

 

Than there is Grossman. With Cutler coming in, the Bears are going to have to give him a ton of snaps and reps in mini camps since it will be his first year in the offense and with the playoffs, which might make it a bit harder to bring in another QB who doesn't have a knowledge of the offense (ie, Leftwich might have trouble getting up to speed enough since Cutler would really need so many reps, more so than say a guy like Manning whose been in the same system for years). Grossman is also a very capable backup who doesn't seem to have any starting options and given his comfort with the offense he could be just fine with limited reps. Plus, as a pure backup I think the hate for Grossman would diminish because I believe most of the shots had to deal more with the Bears not having a good QB (ie, Orton/Grossman) than fans really hating Grossman. Grossman might not do it, but he wouldn't have to answer the same questions he did in the past and as a whole I think the players respect the heck out of him and as a classy fan I respect him for the way he's handled anything. I wouldn't blame Rex if he never wanted anything to do with Bear fans or if he just wanted a clean break, but I do think from the Bears perspective he would be a great #2 QB for one more season (giving Hanie a bit more seasoning).

[Stinger226]

If the Bears pick up Holt, than they are a superbowl contender and with that I don't think you can risk going through a season with one of Hanie/Basanez as your primary backups. I'm not saying our backup will be there to rescue us and win a superbowl if Cutler goes down for the season, but if we lose Jay for three or for games or just one or two, the backup could find a way to lead the Bears to a key victory or two that is necessary to get the Bears into the playoffs where Cutler comes back and dominates.

 

I'm thinking one year stop-gap and here's my rationale for why it would be a good move for the Bears and the specific player.

 

Leftwich would be a tremendous pickup, but that move won't happen for a while. If Leftwich is smart, he'll wait and see if someone gets hurt or if a QB job opens up where he'll have a pretty good job at competing for a starting spot. If he doesn't, Chicago wouldn't be a bad place for him to be just because he'd have a shot to win, but barring injury he'd have no shot at playing. However, if you couldn't find a spot where you could compete for a spot, Chicago wouldn't be bad because if things go well, they might sit Cutler one week and he'd at least be able to showcase himself at the end of the season. Plus, if Cutler went down for an extended period of time, he'd be on a good team which would help make him look better and hopefully if that did happen, he'd perform, win a few games, make himself more marketable while at the same time keeping the Bears a playoff team. Thats how I'd sell it at least.

 

Than there is Grossman. With Cutler coming in, the Bears are going to have to give him a ton of snaps and reps in mini camps since it will be his first year in the offense and with the playoffs, which might make it a bit harder to bring in another QB who doesn't have a knowledge of the offense (ie, Leftwich might have trouble getting up to speed enough since Cutler would really need so many reps, more so than say a guy like Manning whose been in the same system for years). Grossman is also a very capable backup who doesn't seem to have any starting options and given his comfort with the offense he could be just fine with limited reps. Plus, as a pure backup I think the hate for Grossman would diminish because I believe most of the shots had to deal more with the Bears not having a good QB (ie, Orton/Grossman) than fans really hating Grossman. Grossman might not do it, but he wouldn't have to answer the same questions he did in the past and as a whole I think the players respect the heck out of him and as a classy fan I respect him for the way he's handled anything. I wouldn't blame Rex if he never wanted anything to do with Bear fans or if he just wanted a clean break, but I do think from the Bears perspective he would be a great #2 QB for one more season (giving Hanie a bit more seasoning).

I dont think Leftwich will want to come here. If he has to settle for a backup, he gets more Super Bowl checks if he resigns with Steelers. As of now a better place to be a backup than here.

[AZ54]

I agree, Leftwich is going to look for greener pastures where he has a better opportunity to end up as a starter. With Cutler here he might get two games which is not nearly enough to showcase yourself (if you truly think you are starter material). One thing that's telling about Leftwich is that Minn didn't even look in his direction. I personally think this guy is still living on his college reputation (with fans) more than his NFL rep which is what teams seem to focus on. I say that not to dis folks on the board, but it just seems there is more to the Leftwich story than what we know. Good backup QBs are always in demand, heck Shane Matthews always found a job easily. Especially if one of them might have starter potential. Now it's two years in a row and this guy has dropped to the level where he's competing with Grossman for a job.

[bradjock]

I agree, Leftwich is going to look for greener pastures where he has a better opportunity to end up as a starter. With Cutler here he might get two games which is not nearly enough to showcase yourself (if you truly think you are starter material). One thing that's telling about Leftwich is that Minn didn't even look in his direction. I personally think this guy is still living on his college reputation (with fans) more than his NFL rep which is what teams seem to focus on. I say that not to dis folks on the board, but it just seems there is more to the Leftwich story than what we know. Good backup QBs are always in demand, heck Shane Matthews always found a job easily. Especially if one of them might have starter potential. Now it's two years in a row and this guy has dropped to the level where he's competing with Grossman for a job.

 

You were correct! Leftwich signed with Tampa Bay. That makes sense for him. There he gets to compete with Brian Griese and the Tampa Bay fans can piss and moan that whoever is the #2 QB should be the guy who is starting. (Damn I hope those days are actually over!!!)

 

Any Bear fan wanting Leftwich after we brought in Cutler is still thinking about it in terms of: Our starting QB will suck . . . better have a good back-up.

 

I pissed & moaned about Hanie as our #3. But Cutler hasn't missed a game in 3 years. More importantly, no matter how bad Cutler is, at least for this year he'll be the starter.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

I wouldn't doubt it if Tampa released Griese, drafted Freeman, and let Leftwich and Freeman duel it out for the starting job in camp.

[AZ54]

Freeman isn't ready to be a starter in the league. If he did win a duel with Leftwich it would only show how poorly Leftwich plays.

['TD']

Any Bear fan wanting Leftwich after we brought in Cutler is still thinking about it in terms of: Our starting QB will suck . . . better have a good back-up.

 

I disagree. Last year Leftwich was a back up to Big Ben. He wasn't there because the fans thought their starting QB would suck. He was there because he was a quality back up. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

I wouldn't doubt it if Tampa released Griese, drafted Freeman, and let Leftwich and Freeman duel it out for the starting job in camp.

 

I wouldn't mind Griese back as a back up. He was a decent back up as a Bear and already knows the system. His failures were due largely to the coaching. A majority of his games he threw over 35 times. I don't see him with the Buc's much longer.

 

My understanding tho is that the Buc's are dedicated to Luke McCown this year. I'm not sure they will draft a QB, but I'm pretty sure they will start McCown or possibly Leftwich this year and look towards their rookie next year. If they are really high on McCown, they just signed Leftwich, it would only make since to bring in a guy to develop even if it's a later rounder. Griese should be available before the season starts.