ESPN makes terrible free agent suggestion for the Bears that Chicago absolutely should not consider

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Zach Ragan | Last updated 3/20/24

ESPN made a free agent suggestion for the Chicago Bears this week that is, quite frankly, terrible.

On Wednesday, ESPN suggested that the Bears should sign former Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill as a backup option.

From ESPN: The depth chart in Chicago consists of Tyson Bagent and Brett Rypien. Tannehill's not going to push likely No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams for the starting job, but a little bit of veteran experience in the quarterback room wouldn't hurt.

The idea here is that Chicago could sign Tannehill to serve as a mentor to Caleb Williams, the presumptive No. 1 selection by the Bears in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Tannehill, who will turn 36 this summer (he's a month older than Kirk Cousins), likely wants another shot to start in the NFL. But at this point in his career, his most likely role for an NFL franchise is as a high end backup quarterback.

From that angle, I can see why ESPN thinks Tannehill would make sense for the Bears.

But when it comes to serving as a mentor for a young quarterback, that's not exactly a role that Tannehill readily accepts.

It just was two years ago that Tannehill told reporters in Nashville that it wasn't his job to mentor Titans rookie quarterback Malik Willis.

"I don't think it's my job to mentor him."

Ryan Tannehill on mentoring Malik Willis @brgridiron

(via @PaulKuharskyNFL)pic.twitter.com/uyAFhtmoDs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 3, 2022

Maybe things would be different for Tannehill if he signs with the Bears with the expectation that he'll serve as a mentor for Williams. But it's clear that being a mentor isn't something that comes naturally to Tannehill.

There are other veteran options out there that would be more natural options to serve as a mentor/backup to Williams. Tannehill would be better off in a situation where he's pushing another quarterback for playing time (like serving as a backup to New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, someone who needs a little push).

If the Bears take Williams with the No. 1 pick as expected, they'll need to put him in the best possible situation for success. And pairing him with Tannehill certainly doesn't seem like a great situation for his rookie season.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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