Bears Predicted to Part Ways With 5th-Year QB in Favor of Rookie

The Chicago Bears have roughly four days to figure out which players will make their initial 53-man roster to start the 2024 season, and one writer predicted Bears rookie quarterback Austin Reed will win out over veteran Brett Rypien.

The Bears have easy decisions to make about the top two quarterback spots on their depth chart. No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams is their starter, while second-year Tyson Bagent has only solidified his place as Williams’ backup throughout the preseason.

The question now is which of the other two Bears quarterbacks will stick around on either their active roster or, more likely, their practice squad as the third-stringer.

Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon wrote that the “most sensible” decision would be for the Bears to waive both Rypien and Reed and then to re-sign Reed — an undrafted rookie out of Western Kentucky — as their No. 3 quarterback on their 16-man practice squad.

“Chicago can lean on two active players at the position. Caleb Williams is the obvious starter, but Tyson Bagent has a firm grasp on the backup job,” Kenyon wrote on August 23 in his article predicting one player each NFL team should cut before the season.

“No competition here, either. As a result, it’s most sensible for the Bears to have Austin Reed on the practice squad as that emergency game-day option instead of blocking a roster spot with Brett Rypien.”

Has Austin Reed Outplayed Brett Rypien in Preseason?

After the Bears found an undrafted gem in Bagent in 2023, Reed drew some unnatural hype from the fan base coming into the preseason. The former Hilltoppers quarterback threw for 8,086 yards and 71 touchdowns in his final two collegiate seasons and added another 12 scores with his legs, making him one of Chicago’s more excited UDFAs.

But while Reed has played well for a rookie in the preseason, it would be difficult to argue that he has done enough to bump Rypien out of contention for the No. 3 spot.

Rypien lit up the Houston Texans in the team’s preseason opener, completing 11 of his 15 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns and looking like a seasoned pro at the position. The Bears pulled back on the reins and only had Rypien attempt six total passes in their next two games, but he still completed four of them for 63 yards and played mistake-free football as Chicago cruised to a 3-0 start to the 2024 preseason.

Rypien also added more confirmation in the team’s preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs on August 22, going 9-of-13 passing for 106 yards on 14 dropbacks.

Meanwhile, Reed played with impressive decision-making and completed 12 of his 16 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown across three preseason games with two drops among his four incompletions. He also earned Pro Football Focus’ second-best passing grade (79.3) among rookie quarterbacks behind only Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy.

Youth aside, though, Reed simply did not outplay his competition with the Bears.

Could Bears Retain 4 Quarterbacks for 2024 Season?

The Bears are most likely to keep three quarterbacks for the 2024 season, stashing one on their practice squad and carrying their best two on their 53-man roster, but it is not impossible to think they could consider keeping four if they are impressed with Reed.

The Bears pulled an unusual maneuver in 2023 when they kept three quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. The reason was Bagent had outplayed P.J. Walker and Nathan Peterman in the preseason, but the Bears wanted to give him more time to settle into the day-to-day life of an NFL quarterback before promoting him. Once he did in October, Peterman moved to the practice squad (until injuries forced him back up).

Technically, the Bears could replicate this process with a fourth-stringer wrinkle in 2024. They could keep Williams, Bagent and Rypien on their 53-man roster and cut Reed with intentions of signing him to the practice squad as their No. 4 quarterback. Reed would then have more opportunities to grow and develop in Chicago with the NFL offense he has spent the past few months learning.

Unfortunately, logic just does not support such a move.

As important of a position as quarterback is, the Bears have no reason to want more than three quarterbacks with their top two guys — Williams and Bagent — both so young and capable of developing further for the team.

Nothing is certain until the Bears make their 53-man roster cuts by the 4 p.m. Eastern time deadline on August 27, but the smart money is still on Rypein as the No. 3.