Hunting season has opened for the Bears, who have their sights on several free-agent players, some of whom plan to visit Halas Hall Tuesday.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Scott Mitchell may be at the top of the priority list.
The Bears are in competition with NFC Central rival Minnesota for Mitchell, the 6-foot-6-inch, 230-pound backup to future Hall of Famer Dan Marino. The Bears were in contact with Mitchell’s agent, Tony Agnone, as soon as free agency kicked off on Friday.
The Bears are prepared to go all-out to acquire a free-agent quarterback because their No. 11 slot on the first round of the April 24 draft precludes them from selecting a top quarterback prospect.
If they can sign a top quarterback in a hurry, that might facilitate the signing of established wide receivers.
“That could be a factor,” Bears President Michael McCaskey said. “But it might work hand and glove. (Quarterback prospects) might want to know if there are some good receivers to throw to. And some good linemen to keep his health.”
The Bears could try to trade up in the top three spots to acquire either Tennessee’s Heath Shuler or Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer. But that appears unlikely. Or they could attempt to trade for the Colts’ Jeff George, the Rams’ Jim Everett or the 49ers’ Steve Bono.
“Quarterback is as important as any position on the team. I wouldn’t say it is the most important. But it is as important,” said coach Dave Wannstedt, who indicated trading up in the draft could be very risky.
“The question is: How good is that player? Do you have a chance to get a difference-maker? Or would you pass up a great defensive lineman to get him?” Wannstedt said.
The Bengals own the first pick, and the Colts are second.
“It will depend, too, on how stiff a price Cincinnati and some of those other teams are asking for,” McCaskey said. “Will it be the sun, the moon and the stars?
“If you trade away those future draft picks, you get like Minnesota did. They put all their chips on Herschel Walker and then, boom. They really stepped back for two or three years. They had outstanding players, but they couldn’t bring in the new ones to help supplement and get to the next level. They mortgaged the future to do it all in one year. We’re going to try to avoid that.”
