Bears legend Brian Urlacher, like current Bears quarterback Mike Glennon, was a little surprised by the selection of a quarterback at No. 2 in April's draft.
"I don't know what the identity of the team is right now," Urlacher told CBS Radio, via the Chicago Tribune. "They sign Glennon then they draft a kid No. 2 [Mitch Trubisky]. I don't know, it's confusing.
"They thought they were making a step up from what they had, so they had to do it. I hope this kid's unbelievable. I hope Mitch Trubisky is the best quarterback of all time."
While Urlacher wasn't alone, he seems to be longing for a bygone era of Bears football. Urlacher, who retired in 2012, was on the last Bears team to post a winning record (10-6 in 2012) and decided to call his career quits alongside then-head coach Lovie Smith getting fired. Now, he correlates the departure of Smith with the end of a perennial contender (for the record, Urlacher also said current coach John Fox is right for the job).
"I like to say it's the Lovie Curse," Urlacher said. "Because since he left it's been down. He got fired being 10-6. Minnesota beats Green Bay, knocks us out of the playoffs like that last year [of Smith's tenure] -- that was my last year as well. But I think they fire him either way even if we go to the playoffs. I don't think the GM [Phil Emery] liked the way he coached that team."
Organizational preferences aside, I think more people will eventually come around to the signing of Glennon and the drafting of Trubisky in one offseason. If Trubisky ends up starting 16 games this year, he still received a boost in competition from a supposed entrenched starter -- and the team also has a very capable backup. If Glennon ends up being the bridge to Trubisky, he does so as the 22nd most expensive quarterback in terms of average salary per season. In an era of rising cap, Glennon's salary is not a grave concern.
Stacking up the best possible players to compile a depth chart is not a crazy idea. Once the smoke clears, perhaps more will view Glennon as part of the eventual solution, and not see Trubisky as the problem.
