Faced with a dwindling market for backup quarterbacks, the Bears met Friday with Heath Shuler, the third pick of the 1994 draft who is trying to revive his NFL career.
The Bears, with their plan to select a quarterback high in the April draft, don’t appear to be high on Shuler’s list.
“If a team’s in a situation where they say, `We’re definitely going to go after our quarterback of the future,’ then that’s certainly not a place I want to be,” Shuler, 27, said. “I still consider myself a young guy; I just need to get with the right coaching situation, the right offense and team around me (so) that we can become successful.”
Shuler missed the last six games of 1997 and all of 1998 with foot injuries but said he is healed. He has started 22 of 29 games in the NFL, including nine starts in 1997 for Mike Ditka after being traded to the Saints from Washington for third- and fifth-round draft picks.
The Bears’ options for finding veteran quarterback insurance for Erik Kramer are shrinking.
The team remains interested in Tony Banks and Glenn Foley. But St. Louis has been quiet with Banks and the New York Jets have not made a move with Foley, who stands to earn $400,000 this off-season in bonuses and is expected to be released by the Jets later this month.
The Jets signed outside linebacker Roman Phifer on Friday and were expected to shop James Farrior, the eighth pick of the 1997 draft who hasn’t fit with their 3-4 scheme. The Bears have discussed re-signing Sean Harris, but are expected to talk with Farrior, who has three years remaining on his contract with moderate base salaries of $965,000 to $1.28 million over the next three seasons.
