How Trevor Siemian Would Fit with Bears

The Bears are hardly set at backup quarterback with Nick Foles, as he has been the constant subject of trade rumors, and signing Siemian would let them have an experienced reserve behind Justin Fields.

Quarterback Trevor Siemian is well known to the Chicago area after a career at Northwestern when he led the Wildcats to one 10-3 season with a victory over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

There appears to be some interest by the Bears in bringing him back to the area, but as a backup behind Justin Fields.

Siemian was at Halas Hall for a visit Tuesday according to an ESPN report by Field Yates. He was there on a day when Buffalo Bills restricted free agent Ryan Bates also visited.

Siemian is an unrestricted free agent after a disappointing season from a win-loss standpoint serving as one of the backups who played after the season-ending knee injury to Jameis Winston.

The Bears' interest would likely be if they planned to trade or cut Nick Foles.

Prior to the start of the offseason, it seemed almost silly to think they would cut Foles because he would count $7 million guaranteed against their cap. On March 20, Foles had a $4 million roster bonus activated but the Bears can still save that by trading him after June 1 and also would take only a $2.66 million dead-cap hit then, as well.

Regardless, it doesn't look nearly as foolish now to take a cap hit of $7 million while saving only $3 million in available space after the team went into a complete rebuild.

The more dead cap weight for 30-something veterans they can clear out in this youth movement, the better. In that case, an experienced, low-cost backup like Siemian would be valuable to the Bears, whose only other quarterback is untested Ryan Willis, 2021 MVP of The Spring League.

Even if the Bears decided they weren't getting rid of Foles and were to keep both Siemian and Foles, it's always a possibility they would trade him before the deadline during the season.

At Northwestern, Siemian completed 58.9% for 5,931 yards with 27 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

In the NFL, Siemian has made 29 starts, leading the Broncos to 13 wins and 11 losses in 2016-17. In three full years with the Broncos, he had an 81.2 passer rating, 6.7 yards an attempt and threw for 30 touchdowns with 24 interceptions. He completed 59.3% and 5,686 yards.

Since 2017, he played in one game for the Jets and then last year came in after injuries to Winston and Taysom Hill to complete 57.4% (108 of 188) with 1,154 yards with 11 TDs, three interceptions and a passer rating of 88.4.

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