Brian Hoyer Finds New Home
By Josh McSwain
After being on the free agent market for less than a month, Brian Hoyer has signed a one year deal with the Chicago Bears to backup Jay Cutler.
The options for free agent quarterbacks took a hit over the weekend as the draft sent the next crop of rookie quarterbacks to their respective destinations. Jared Goff went to Los Angeles to be the starter for the Rams, Carson Wentz will enter a competition with the unhappy Sam Bradford and Doug Pederson disciple Chase Daniel in Philadelphia, but most importantly for Hoyer Paxton Lynch was picked at 26 by the Denver Broncos to be the quarterback of the future there (and maybe the present if Mark Sanchez doesn’t play well). Denver was not the last team with an unsettled quarterback situation though.
The San Francisco 49ers tried but could not deal Colin Kaepernick, and will have him compete with Blaine Gabbert (unless you think Jeff Driskel will push for playing time) for the starting job. This is a competition Kaepernick should win, because Chip Kelly’s offense works best with a mobile quarterback. Meanwhile, the New York Jets are still hoping to bring back Ryan Fitzpatrick, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen.
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But the Jets did not stand by in the draft as they picked Christian Hackenberg in the second round. Was he over drafted, absolutely. But that did prevent any chance of the Texans bringing him in with a mid round pick, as I hoped they would.
Hackenberg will join Geno Smith and Bryce Petty to duke it out for the starting job in New York. That leaves no room for Hoyer.
So Hoyer joins the Bears, which is odd because of the man he will be backing up. Hoyer is a guy who gets the most out of the limited talent he has, while Cutler gets the least out of the much greater amount of talent he has. Why the Bears gave him the massive extension they did I will never know–while his numbers are respectable overall he has shown that he will not come through when it matters most, and has just one playoff season in his career.
But the familiarity with the system and experience with Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains is what lured Hoyer to the Windy City. My guess is we will see Hoyer at some point this season, best of luck to him when he does.