The Chicago Bears added competition for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky by trading for 2018 Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
It's been a busy few days for a team looking to bounce back from a disappointing season that began with Super Bowl hopes. And while the NFL's new year kicked off Wednesday without the usual parade of official announcements because of concerns about the new coronavirus, the Bears all but confirmed the stories that leaked out.
They sent out three tweets citing NFL Network reports of the trade with Jacksonville for Foles and agreements with Robert Quinn and Jimmy Graham. In each one, the Bears added: "NFL policy currently prohibits teams from making any official announcements."
It was an unusual move. But these are hardly normal times.
The league has barred free agents from travelling to team facilities as well as travel by team personnel to meet them. Contracts can be sent digitally, signed by players, returned to teams and then submitted to the league to make them official. But the players also need physicals. They could get them locally, but few teams would be comfortable with that arrangement.
31-year-old Foles is set to represent a fifth franchise in the NFL, after previously amassing 58 league appearances whule playing for the Eagles, Rams, Chiefs and Jaguars.