Twitter Q&A: Should the Bears draft a QB? Where’s the O-line help?

With most of the big names off the board in free agency, the Sun-Times’ Patrick Finley — who can be found @patrickfinley — answers your Bears questions from the Twitterverse:

Yep. The Bears almost did that exact thing with cornerback Kyle Fuller. Fuller had a standout 2017 after the Bears decided not to pick up his fifth-year option, which would’ve kept him around in 2018. Rather than give him the franchise tag, though, the Bears gave Fuller the transition tag in March 2018, which allowed them to match any offer he received. In Fuller’s case, it was from the Packers.

If the Bears decide not to pick up Trubisky’s option, they’d be thrilled if he played so well in 2020 that they were forced to consider applying the franchise tag.

They should explore drafting a quarterback, as there’s no guarantee that Trubisky or Nick Foles is on the Bears’ roster in 2021. But taking one on Day 3 — when teams draft in Rounds 4-7 — isn’t looking toward the future; it’s typically throwing away a pick.

Tom Brady, Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins are famous exceptions, not the rule. In the last three years, 17 quarterbacks have been drafted on Day 3. Ten have yet to throw an NFL pass, three have tried 12 or fewer and four have started a game. Only the Jaguars’ Gardner Minshew has started more than four times. If the Bears take one on Day 3, he’ll be a camp arm — and, statistics show, probably little else.

The Bears have given big contracts to Charles Leno Jr., Bobby Massie and Cody Whitehair in recent years and spent a second-round pick on James Daniels two years ago. Rather than dump them, the Bears’ big bet is that Juan Castillo gets more out of them than Harry Hiestand did. I’m wary of that approach — Hiestand was one of the most well-respected position coaches on the planet. The Bears had little choice, though — they couldn’t overhaul the personnel.

Ask me again in a week. The Bears could never afford to swim in the deep end of the financial free-agent pool, but general manager Ryan Pace still figures to snag a veteran guard — one who could start instead of Rashaad Coward, ideally — and a swing tackle.

Because they can’t trust that Trey Burton will be healthy or that 2017 second-round pick Adam Shaheen will make the team at all.

Ten! In alphabetical order: Ben Braunecker, Burton, Darion Clark, Graham, Demetrius Harris, J.P. Holtz, Jesper Horsted, Dax Raymond, Eric Saubert and Shaheen. They figure to cut at least one whenever they finally announce the Graham contract.