Titans Trading Marcus Mariota To Bears?
Are the Titans trading Marcus Mariota to the Bears?
At least one NFL executive thinks the deal is something of a foregone conclusion.
Speaking to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN recently, the anonymous scout suggested the move made all the sense in the world.
“I could see Chicago [for Mariota],” he said.
“Ryan Pace wants to stick with Mitch [Trubisky], and this way Mariota can start games but isn’t a total replacement, leaving room for Trubisky to regain his confidence and play well.”
Mariota currently finds himself in something of a tough situation. His Tennessee squad is rolling and one game out from making the Super Bowl, but it is essentially happening because he got benched.
Roughly midway through the season, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel made the tough decision to bench Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill.
The change paid off almost immediately.
Tennessee subsequently went on a run, secured a postseason berth, and then upset two favorites to nab an AFC Championship Game bid.
Now the question is, regardless of what happens with the Titans this season, what is Mariota’s future?
Over the course of his career Mariota has been very up and down. The good is always good, but the bad is always bad.
The former Oregon star has started in 61 games and completed nearly 63 percent of his passes. He is definitely a solid NFL quarterback – the question is whether he is a starter for a good team.
Everyone is aware of the Bears’ offensive struggles in 2020. Most of those had to do with the poor play of their number two pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Trubisky finished the year with 17 scores and 10 picks in 15 outings – hardly a recipe for success. It is widely assumed that with a better passer Chicago would have likely at least contender for playoff spot.
Is Mariota that better passer? In a lot of people’s eyes the answer is yes.
Once this season concludes, Bears management will likely do their due diligence to see if there is a deal that can be made with Tennessee. Obviously it is not a guarantee that one will happen, but if it did, Chicago could stand to benefit greatly from it.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
