Getty Quarterback Sam Ehlinger of the Indianapolis Colts.
The Chicago Bears have upgraded or held fast at most positions across the offense this offseason, though backup quarterback remains a point of intrigue.
P.J. Walker has been flat out bad during the preseason, while undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent has looked solid but brings literally zero regular season NFL experience to the table. Then there’s the Nathan Peterman experiment, which has been conducted by various organizations since 2017 to varying degrees of failure each time.
Walker’s $4.15 million contract aside, which would represent approximately $2 million in sunk costs were the team to release or otherwise replace him, the Bears are a franchise potentially in the market for a No. 2 QB. Just down the road is an Indianapolis Colts team riding one signal-caller heavy. It doesn’t appear there is room in Indy for Sam Ehlinger with rookie Anthony Richardson and journeyman Gardner Minshew ahead of him on the depth chart, though there could be some space in Chicago.
Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report pitched a trade on Thursday, August 24, that would flip Ehlinger to the Bears.
“Ehlinger is a tough quarterback who is willing to take hits to move the ball. He doesn’t have a great arm but is an adequate runner and had 33 rushing touchdowns in his collegiate career,” Ballentine wrote. “That makes him a strong candidate to back up Justin Fields. … Ehlinger has higher upside than Walker and is more experienced than Bagent.”
Sam Ehlinger Proved Himself Capable NFL QB Last Season
GettyIndianapolis Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a potential trade target for the Chicago Bears if they choose to shake up the position group.
The Colts thrust Ehlinger into the spotlight late last season, running him out for three games as the starter. He appeared in a total of four contests in 2022.
Ehlinger performed reasonably well for a second-year player with essentially no NFL chops at the time, completing 63.4% of his passes for 573 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Ehlinger also rushed the ball 17 times for 87 yards, per Pro Football Reference. The Colts went 0-3 during his stint as the starter.
A sixth-round pick out of Texas in 2021, Ehlinger will play the upcoming season at 25 years old. He has displayed enough grit and ability that the Bears could feel comfortable slotting him in behind Fields.
The real question, however, is two-fold: Does Chicago want to absorb another QB contract, albeit a small one, and what would the team need to part with to bring Ehlinger into the fold?
Cost of Sam Ehlinger Trade One that Bears Can Easily Absorb
GettyIndianapolis Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
Ehlinger is a better bargain than the one the Bears struck with Walker, entering the third season of a four-year rookie contract worth just $3.6 million in total.
Ehlinger’s actual salary in 2023 is $940,000 while his cap hit is $972,000. As such, bringing Ehlinger in and moving on from Walker’s $2.01 million in guaranteed money would make the actual cost of the No. 2 QB slot in Chicago $2.95 million this season.
The cap hit would be slightly lower at just over $2.6 million, as Walker’s cap hit this year is a little lower than the guaranteed value of his contract.
While not ideal, there are plenty of NFL franchises paying backups more than $3 million not to play at all — see the San Francisco 49ers and Trey Lance. Beyond that, Chicago has more than $16.3 million in remaining cap space as of Thursday and could easily afford such a move.
As far as trade value, Ehlinger has some as a player who has proven himself capable of holding his own in an NFL game. But with only two years of cost control left on his rookie deal after being selected in the sixth round himself, Ehlinger probably won’t command anything more on the trade market than a late Day 3 pick. Chicago also owns enough draft capital in 2024 that parting with such a selection wouldn’t materially hurt the franchise’s ongoing rebuild.
None of this is to say that a trade bringing Ehlinger to the Bears is actually going to happen. However, if Walker continues to falter and Chicago decides to shelve Bagent on the practice squad and let him develop for a season, a move for Ehlinger (or a similar type of quarterback) could be in play.