Bears general manager Ryan Pace is struggling to win in the court of public opinion right now, but a quarterback trade that went down Monday afternoon might help his case a little bit.
Among the criticism getting thrown at Pace is the compensation he gave up for Nick Foles, trading the Bears’ compensatory fourth round pick to Jacksonville.
Well, that might not seem so bad now.
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Monday, Washington sent a fifth round pick to Carolina for former undrafted free agent quarterback Kyle Allen, who was unspectacular in 12 starts for the Panthers in 2019. A game-manager at best, Allen completed 62 percent of his passes last season while throwing 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions for a passer rating of 80.0.
Even with the Panthers ready to move on from Cam Newton, new head coach Matt Rhule didn’t seem too interested in giving Allen a shot at the permanent job. Instead, Carolina gave Teddy Bridgewater a 3-year, $63 million contract and traded Allen away.
There’s no question that Foles has struggled to hold onto starting jobs, but he’s certainly a more accomplished quarterback than Allen – one that comes with a playoff pedigree and a Super Bowl MVP. Any forecasted quarterback trade market this offseason would have had Foles commanding a bigger return.
And yet, the compensation in these trades aren’t very different.
NFL
For Foles, Jacksonville received the No. 140 overall pick.
For Allen, Carolina received the No. 148 overall pick.
That difference so late in the draft is minimal, and yet, would you rather have Foles competing with Mitchell Trubisky or Kyle Allen?
Washington isn’t in the same win-now mode as the Bears, so they likely view Allen, 24, as someone who can potentially provide more long-term value as a backup while maybe pushing Dwayne Haskins as the starter. But the Bears got the best backup quarterback in the league, and one that is a proven playoff starter.
The chatter all offseason was that if Jacksonville was going to part with Foles, it would likely take at least a fourth round pick. In the end, it took a late fourth-rounder, which seemed like fair compensation. Now, it looks more than fair considering Washington gave up almost as much for Allen.
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