Mitchell Trubisky's future in Chicago looks cloudy after the Bears opted to decline the quarterback's fifth-year option.
The Bears traded valuable assets to secure Trubisky with the second pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, moving up the draft board to select him ahead of now superstar quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.
- 'Cowboys knocked it out the park with Draft'
- Dalton signs one-year deal with Cowboys
- NFL schedule expected to be 'business as usual'
But his play since being drafted has proved inconsistent with the high of leading Chicago to the NFC North title in 2018 followed by failure to even make the playoffs 12 months on.
That led the Bears to make a trade before this year's NFL Draft to secure veteran competition for Trubisky in the form of former Philadelphia and Jacksonville quarterback Nick Foles.
Bears general manager Ryan Pace, the man whose trade brought Trubisky to the Windy City, said there would be an open competition in training camp for the starting QB role.
Trubisky had surgery on a shoulder injury in January but is expected to be ready to battle for his job, and potentially his future with the franchise, when training camps are allowed to open.
He becomes the fourth player from the top five draftees in 2017 to have his fifth-season option declined, joining Solomon Thomas (third pick, San Francisco), Leonard Fournette (fourth pick, Jacksonville) and Corey Davis (fifth pick, Tennessee).
Wide receiver John Ross, who was selected ninth by the Cincinnati Bengals, also had his option declined on Saturday.
Ross has suffered significant injury issues in each of his first three seasons in the NFL and has only managed 49 catches so far, although 10 of those have produced touchdowns.