(Fill In The Blank) Is Our Quarterback

With four games remaining, the Chicago Bears still have a chance to make the playoffs.  But if history plays any role in how this season will finish, Bears fans are more than likely to be sitting on the couch once again, counting the days until Bourbonnais next summer.

Many questions will arise, but the biggest one is have the Bears finally found their quarterback of the future?  Kyle Orton has played better than I expected this year, and I confident he will return to early season form once he fully recovers from his ankle injury.

Like all teams (except maybe the Bengals and Lions), the goal of the off season is to improve.  The question sure to be floating around Halas Hall is can the Bears can better at the quarterback position.  The answer isn't an easy one.

First of all, it really doesn't matter who is throwing the passes if general manager Jerry Angelo doesn't bring in a true, number one receiver.  Current role players Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd have done nothing to prove they should return next season. 

Devin Hester will always be a big tease to stretch the field, but Bears fans and the Bears coaches need to ask themselves where the "Windy City Flyer" is more valuable.

Hester can't be football's best kick returner and the team's No. 1 receiver at the same time.  Disagree?  How many touchdowns has Hester returned this season while working two jobs?  Zero.  If a guy is deemed one of the greatest returners in NFL history, doesn't it seem strange to suddenly remove him from what he does best?

Further more, the Bears finally have a legitimate running back who can catch the ball out of the backfield in Matt Forte.  The former Tulane product has amasses a lot of carries in his rookie year, but has so far proven he can withstand the punishment.

So if the Bears were to at least consider bringing in some competition for Orton (not Rex Grossman again) heading into training camp next summer, they have three different routes to follow: free agency, the draft, or via trade. 

With so many players performing below their potential resulting in a roster filled with question marks, the Bears have nothing to trade and need to hold onto every draft pick they have.  Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre are fun to talk about, but the odds of either wearing Blue and Orange on are worse than a gun inside of Plaxico Burress's sweat pants.

Free Agency Route

If none of their teams re-sign them or designate them with the franchise tag, the following players are all due to be unrestricted free agents: Matt Cassel, Kerry Collins, Jeff Garcia, J.P. Losman, Kurt Warner.  There obviously are more names on this list, but the rest of them would fail to provide any real competition.

Cassel and Warner would be the two hottest names on the market; one considered a future franchise quarterback and the other being a stop-gap option for a team looking to win now. 

Signing Cassel is going to require a King's Ransom, and although it would be a wise move for the Bears to explore, Cassel will probably sign with whatever team hires his former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel's, who is likely to be one of the hottest head coaching candidates next season.

Warner, on the other hand, is a very intriguing option.  He will be coming off an outstanding season statistically and is one of the game's best all-around guys.  In a locker room like the Bears that seems to be filled with drama, Warner would help establish a new identity and hopefully reshape some of the questionable attitudes on the team. 

The downside, however, is judging just how much a 37-year old quarterback is worth.  Best case scenario has him adding an element to the Bears passing game that has been non-existent for years: someone who can actually throw the ball deep with accuracy (sorry Rex, all you could do was throw it deep). 

Worst case scenario would have Warner resembling exactly what he should be, a veteran quarterback on the tail-end of his career who is more likely to lose the game than win it.  

Verdict

If the Bears choose to go the free agent route and sign Warner, the deal would have to be filled with incentives.  The competition in training camp really be something to watch, with Warner and Orton updates being the talk of the town.  But if Warner were to go down with an injury or fail to live up to his new deal if he was named the starter, it would be hard for the organization to come crawling back to Orton for another year.

The Draft Route

Jerry Angelo and the NFL Draft haven't been friend for a long time, especially when it comes to the early rounds, where the big-name quarterbacks are expected to be taken.  But in this case, the Bears aren't looking for a franchise-type quarterback, just someone who can compete with Orton. 

Big name college quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford of Georgia and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma are probably out of the question.  But what about under-the-radar players like Ball State's Nate Davis, Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, Southern California's Mark Sanchez or Louisville's Hunter Cantwell?  They all represent intriguing options for the Bears and will likely be there in the second and third rounds.  So who would be the best fit?

Based on Angelo's strategy of drafting players earlier than any other G.M. would contemplate, I could see him falling in love with Nate Davis.  In this case, however, Davis deserves to be an early round pick.  Remember, last season Angelo was said to have been enamored with Joe Flacco, another player from a lesser-known school with a big-time arm.  Eventually, Flacco's popularity skyrocketed leading up to the draft as he went from a late-round steal to a Top 20 pick.

Davis has seen his value rise with each game he has played while leading the Cardinals to an 12-1 record while completing over 67 percent of his passes.  If Davis were to somehow be there in the second round with the Bears on the clock, Angelo would be a fool to pass on him.

Verdict

If Davis is available, he could help change Angelo's reputation as a poor talent evaluator.  If Davis' stock soars, Sanchez would be the next best option after playing in a pro-like system at USC.