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Former Division II standout Tyson Bagent had numerous — and more lucrative offers — to sign with other NFL teams, but the current third-string quarterback for the Chicago Bears turned them down.
According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Bagent “fielded multiple offers as an undrafted free agent. The Bears got him on a three-year contract with a $25,000 signing bonus.” Per Biggs, “Bagent had offers worth more money elsewhere … He picked the Bears because it looked like the best opportunity for him to stick.”
He was correct in his assessment. The Bears wound up cutting veteran quarterback PJ Walker, who they had initially signed to a two-year, $4 million contract last offseason. The plan was for Walker to be the backup for starter Justin Fields, but Bagent outplayed Walker in the preseason, and now, he is the team’s third-string QB behind veteran Nathan Peterman and Fields on the depth chart.
Fields has struggled through his first two games, leaving some fans to wonder if Bagent, who earned an 82.2 passing grade from PFF over the preseason, could possibly take over if things continue to go south. Considering his background, that would be highly unlikely.
Don’t Look for Tyson Bagent to Replace Justin Fields Anytime Soon
As a senior at Shepherd University, Bagent started 15 games, completing 400-of-572 of his passes (that’s a 70.0 completion percentage) for 4,580 yards, 41 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Over his four years at the Division II school, the 23-year-old QB completed 69% of his passes for 17,034 yards, 159 touchdowns and 48 interceptions.
He’s not going to log multiple 100-yard games running the ball, but he’s athletic enough to get out of trouble in the pocket, and he can run when needed. He had 12 rushing TDs in college.
While Bagent is an exciting young signal-caller with loads of upside, he played well in the preseason against vanilla defenses and lower-tiered players, and the NFL is a very different league when the regular season hits. The Bears have to see what they have in Fields, a former 11th overall pick. They’ll need the bulk of the season in order to gauge what he can bring as a starter before they’d turn to Bagent.
NFL Scouts Have Good Things to Say About Tyson Bagent
“I thought the guy had the ability to develop into an NFL quarterback,” an NFL scout told Biggs about the Bears’ rookie QB. “You can see him playing quarterback. Some guys who get all of this hype and have stats, you can’t see them doing it like they will have to do in the NFL. It was a matter of whether or not it was going to be too big for him and if he could develop in the manner he should against a new level of comp.”
Others were surprised Bagent went undrafted considering the numbers he put up in college coupled with his intangibles.
“He showed enough ability to be intrigued about,” another scout told Biggs. “I liked the player. I liked the person. Everything was really positive about him. He was different from the rest of his team in terms of his preparation habits and how badly he wanted to succeed and get to the NFL and get that chance. It was a good free-agent pickup. I am surprised he didn’t go in the seventh round. There was enough there to draft that guy.”
If Fields isn’t the guy, Chicago will still have Bagent around for another two seasons, and he could turn into a solid backup in the future as he develops. Throwing him into the fire while giving up on Fields by Week 3 or 4 isn’t the right thing to do for either quarterback, though, and the Bears won’t do that.
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