The 2020 NFL off-season is around a week away and for the Chicago Bears and general manager Ryan Pace, this becomes the biggest of his tenure with the team. After a surprising (12-4) record in 2018, the Bears followed up with a disappointing (8-8) finish this past season.

A big reason why? The play of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The former No. 2 overall pick simply wasn’t good enough. Not only was he not good enough, he was downright bad. Grading out as one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league in 2019.

Now Pace and the Bears must figure out how to proceed with their quarterback dilemma. Most fans and outside media have taken the general manager at his word when he says Trubisky is the unquestioned starter for the 2020 season. But before we make that assumption, let’s think about a few things first.

1. Trubisky is currently the only quarterback under contract for the 2020 season.

It’s easy for a general manager or even head coach to crown a player when there’s no actual competition currently on the roster. Veteran backup Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray are both free agents. Bray’s practice squad availability is also presumed to be gone. This means that there’s a good chance we’ll see at least one new quarterback on the team’s depth chart if not two.

2. If the Bears were committed to Trubisky, why haven’t they picked up his fifth-year option?

This is the second and much big “tell” when looking at the team’s quarterback situation. At least, in my mind.

Let’s think about this for a second- If the Bears were behind their quarterback as much as they said they were, why are they hesitating to pick up his fifth-year option? Could it be the CBA situation? It’s possible. The option could become fully guaranteed if picked up under the new CBA, which could be a cause for the team’s current reservations.

The more likely situation is this- The Bears have serious doubts about Trubisky’s future but also don’t want to completely destroy his confidence until they have another quarterback they trust on the roster.

Who could that be? Your guess is as good as anybody’s at this point but two names that stick out to me as realistic targets are Andy Dalton and more favorably, Derek Carr. Both are currently under another team’s control but at least Dalton will be on the market and possibly a free agent within the coming week or two. Case Keenum is another veteran option but my guess is that one of these two--If not both-- are the team’s two primary targets in the coming weeks.

Once we see the dominoes at quarterback start to fall (which is solely based around Tom Brady and his upcoming decision), we can finally see the Bears’ true plan at the position come to fruition.

One thing is for certain, quarterback-needy teams will have plenty of options to choose from. Whether that is free agents such as Brady, Phillip Rivers or Teddy Bridgewater, trade targets such as Carr, Dalton or even Cam Newton or a loaded top end of the draft class, there will be plenty of shuffling going on at the quarterback position around the league in 2020.

So where does that leave the Bears? In a surprisingly good position to take their time and weigh their options.

Ultimately there are two different routes the Bears are likely to take:

1. A brand new veteran starter that still has tread left on the tires.

That would come in the way of players like Carr, Bridgewater, Newton or even God forbid, Jameis Winston. At least to me, this seems like the best option for the Bears. While it may require giving up limited draft capital, finding a quarterback who can win now is imperative to saving their current window.

2. Veteran competition with a mid-to-late round draft pick

A veteran such as Dalton or Keenum would give the Bears the competition they’ve claimed to crave heading into 2020. While I believe that someone like Dalton is ultimately more established and a better option than Trubisky, I’m not sure how much upside he brings past helping them to a few more wins in 2020. Especially considering Dalton is already 32-years-old and hasn’t exactly been the same middling quarterback he was just a few years ago.

Keenum could also make some sense on a one or two year deal but that feels like a worst-case scenario to me.

While I won’t dive too much into draft prospects at the quarterback position, Anthony Gordon out of Washington State or Jake Fromm from Georgia could make some sense in the later rounds of the draft as potential developmental options.

Regardless of how anyone views the current quarterback situation, Pace’s actions will speak louder than his words over the next few weeks. While there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the position as we head into a crucial off-season, guarded optimism and pure curiosity should be something consuming most Bears fans in the coming months.