The questions swirling around the Chicago Bears' quarterback situation began the moment the 2019 regular season came to an end. As if the team's disappointing regression to 8-8 wasn't bad enough, Mitch Trubisky's failure to develop into a bona fide franchise quarterback made last year a tough pill to swallow.
But the offseason always brings hope. Fortunately for the Bears, several veteran passers were available for Ryan Pace to choose from as competition for Trubisky in 2020. The most popular names ranged from Andy Dalton, Ryan Tannehill and Nick Foles, but the end of Cam Newton's tenure in Carolina made the former league MVP one of the most intriguing, if not riskiest options Chicago could've pursued.
RELATED: Should Bears have signed Cam Newton? No, and that's the problem
Ultimately, Pace decided to trade a fourth-round pick and commit a large sum of money for Foles, who joins the Bears ahead of the traditional new-quarterback curve. He's familiar with the offense and the coaching staff and as a result, he should have little-to-no problem adjusting to his new environment.
But then came Sunday's news: The Patriots signed Newton to an incentive-laden one-year deal.
Bill Belichick's emergence from his offseason quarterback slumber sent shockwaves through the AFC East. But there's a longer tail to this story; Bears fans are beginning to wonder what if.
Naturally, the best place to go to gauge a fanbase's reaction to anything is Twitter. Here are some tweets from Bears fans in reaction to the Newton signing.
I'm just soooo happy the bears didn't sign Cam Newton. That would have been very bad...
— DXGGER (@Dxgger_) June 29, 2020
When the #Bears signed Nick Foles instead of Cam Newton I made the final decision to discontinue my season tickets. I've spent more than enough on those rubes.
— Internet Apex 👁👁📲 (@InternetApex) June 29, 2020
The Chicago Bears have now passed on Patrick Mahomes II, Deshaun Watson, and Cam Newton in favor of Mitchell Trubisky.
— Michael Hanich 🏈💻✒ (@MHanich79) June 29, 2020
Bears took Trubisky over Mahomes and Watson... then traded picks for the right to extend Nick Foles, when Cam Newton was available at a fraction of the price. 😂 pic.twitter.com/yRtgevk55r
— BRANDO (@Atx_Reeb) June 29, 2020
So it looks like every single NFL pundit in America plotted on waiting for the moment that Cam Newton signed to sh*t on the Bears one more time. Cool, all you people are original. Can't wait for the season to play out. #BDN 🐻⬇️
— Phil Kloc (@klocwise92) June 29, 2020
The Bears traded for and took on Nick Foles' monster dealninstead ofnsigning Cam Newton.
— Mayfield Garrett Wills Era 🐶 (@MylesOffTheEdge) June 29, 2020
Da Bears 😂😂
We can all agree we'd rather have Cam Newton to Nick Foles, yes? And that's if the money is equal. #Bears gave up a draft pick for assuming $20M+ guaranteed to Foles. It was the safer move. Foles won't step on anyone's toes & knows the offense.
— Chad Forbes (@NFLDraftBites) June 29, 2020
With that Roster, why go safe?
If Nick Foles succeeds and the Bears make the playoffs, I'll believe in the concept of a "system QB." Until then, not signing Cam Newton for under half the cost looks ROUGH.
— Corey Diab (@coreyeldiablo) June 29, 2020
Everyone who thinks the Pats are contenders again because they signed good ol Cam Newton should remember that 31 other teams had a shot to sign Cam for three and a half months. The Bears preferred to pay Nick Foles a guaranteed $16m and a 4th rather than a few mil for Cam.
— Steven Kriz (@skriz24) June 29, 2020
Here's how Bears fans feel about Patriots signing Cam Newton originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
