Someone Will Be Watching Bagent

Former Bears training camp quarterback tells WSCR Tyson Bagent is a player who will be sought by teams if he is put on the practice squad.
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The fate of quarterback Tyson Bagent will be decided within the next week to 10 days, if it hasn't already.

If the Bears know what's good for them, they might want to heed the subtle warning issued by a Chicago legend of sorts.

One of Bagent's mentors was Ken Mastrole, the quarterback who seemed to have "all but made the team," at training camp in 2002 after some flashy play in preseason games. Mastrole never made the team, runs a quarterback school now after his playing career ended, and made an appearance on the Score's on WSCR's Parkins & Spiegel Show.

Near the end of their interview about Bagent, Mastrole issued the veiled warning.

"You know, hopefully he's there in Chicago and if not I think the other teams that are out there that are seeing what he's doing from a performance standpoint. He's definitely proving his worth," Mastrole said.

This is what happens with young passers who play well in preseason. They create personnel problems for their team. The Bears will need to decide whether to keep him on the 53-man roster or risk putting him on the practice squad.

After Bagent's game, the genie is out of the bottle, so to speak. The Bears may or may not play him in the preseason finale Saturday against Buffalo but either way teams have good film of him making fast decisions and getting the ball to the open man in a 17-play touchdown drive.

Stashing Bagent away on the practice squad doesn't seem possible because he'd be a free agent then. Sometimes teams can work out deals for extra bonus money to practice squad players to stay, but a quarterback who is a rookie and showed the ability to read and react as quickly as he did might be able to go beyond any practice squad bonus coin.

The Bears might want to think seriously about keeping Bagent as the third quarterback, which could mean one less player at another need position.

The Bears went with only two quarterbacks last year on the roster and eventually they played four. Justin Fields, Trevor Siemian, Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle all played last year. It's difficult to tell what they'll do but if experience means anything then P.J. Walker is the backup and Bagent could be the third, or Peterman.

Mastrole worked with Bagent before the draft and the D-II record setter from Shepherd didn't get selected, so he wound up in Chicago.

"Well, I definitely think he's an NFL quarterback, there's no question about that," Mastrole told Parkins and Spiegel. "I felt like after watching a lot of film on him he belongs there regardless of what level he played at."

When it turned out to be Chicago and a spot behind Justin Fields where Bagent landed, Mastrole saw a fit.

"I thought that was just an awsome situation for him," Mastrole said on WSCR's Parkins and Spiegel.

Whether it stays a fit is up to the Bears and how they treat their roster.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven


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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.