A lot of people are saying 37 year-old Case Keenum isn’t worth $3,000,000 and I suppose that can be debated later.
For now I just want to use the opportunity to say it’s good to finally have a true veteran backup in the quarterback room again.
It’s the first time since we brought in Chase Daniel in 2018. And in that comparison, Keenum has almost 10 times the experience in passing yardage and career touchdowns with two playoff starts.
So in that light, he’s BY FAR the most experienced Bears Backup since…
It’s a good debate and let me stop here to say I don’t think Nick Foles was a backup in the sense I’m using the term. Same goes for Andy Dalton and Mike Glennon.
In all those cases we’re talking about veterans brought in to compete for playing time with our young quarterbacks. And if I recall correctly all 3 of those came with much bigger prices than $3M.
In none of those cases are we talking about true mentorship. All of them were competing for playing time first and mentoring later.
So in context of backing up Caleb, I think Case Keenum is our first true backup veteran with notable playing experience since Brian Hoyer in 2016 or Jason Campbell in 2012.
And neither of those guys were mentoring Jay Cutler as much as they were just staying out of his way.
Case Keenum should be like another coach for Ben Johnson to demonstrate reps and build a relationship with Caleb. I also think he’s one of the more notoriously prepared quarterbacks of his generation and that’s something he can demonstrate to Caleb on a week to week basis.
And then lastly and most important is that it’s such a bizarre signing that I have to respect it at face value. This is Ben Johnson’s first big decision about the quarterback room and he’s going with a 37 year-old that’s grossed 800 yards since 2020 that’s fresh off Injured Reserve.
Sounds like a catastrophe in the making and that’s exactly what I want from Ben Johnson: mystique and intrigue.
PS – I don’t think there’s a situation where backup qb play matters for the Bears. If Caleb gets hurt and we have to play the backup, season’s over anyways. So it’s kinda genius to get the best/smartest mentor on the market vs. trying to find a backup that could compete. There’s no such thing in my opinion and seems like Ben Johnson agrees.
This allows them to trade Bagent.