Jeff Hughes | April 1st, 2017

A few weeks back I texted a friend, who also happens to be pretty damn high up with an NFL franchise that doesn’t play their home games in Chicago. I asked him a simple question, “Is Mike Glennon a thing?”

His response: “Pace sure thinks so. Tried to get him last offseason.”

I followed up, making sure he wasn’t fucking with me, then put that information on Twitter. It died there. I thought, “Eh, maybe nobody cares.” Turns out the fans did care but they waited until more reputable newsmen put the information out there to express it. (And yes, I’m kidding. No, I’m not a newsman.)

Ryan Pace likes Mike Glennon. He thinks Mike Glennon can be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL. And while Glennon’s arrival won’t deter the Bears from targeting the QB position at various points of the next two NFL drafts, it’s pretty clear that if you asked the front office to layout their best case scenario moving forward it involves Glennon winning a lot of games and STAYING under center.

Listen, I know I’ve been schizophrenic when it comes to this Glennon stuff.

At first it upset me because I heard “BIG MONEY FOR MIKE GLENNON” and, you know, that’s crazy. He’s Mike Glennon.

Then after seeing the comfortable, conservative terms of the deal I began believing Glennon to be one/two-year adhesive strip for a positional stab wound. He wasn’t going to keep the team from dying but he might keep them alive a bit longer.

Now after a series of conversations with people who know more than I do, I’m not so sure. Pace may actually be doing this Glennon thing. He may be staking his reputation as a talent evaluator on the goofy North Carolina State product who looks like he belongs on a pickup basketball court in rural Indiana.

What if the Bears GM saw the production from Brian Hoyer and #Barkleytime and thought, “I can get a better version of those guys and if he plays well, I’ve struck gold.”

What if Pace heard from his scouts all autumn that while there are talented quarterbacks in this year’s draft, there aren’t any ready to start in 2017 and they may not be ready to start for several seasons?

Maybe both of those things are true. But they wouldn’t explain this simple fact: Pace wanted Glennon…last year. There just might be a possibility that Glennon is the thing. He’s the guy. And barring the Bears taking a quarterback with one of their first two picks, the 2017 season is very much set to be about Glennon’s performance and – by that token – Pace.