Jul 26th 2008 11:27AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Bears, Buccaneers, NFC North, NFL Rumors
Now that Devin Hester has ended the shortest holdout in NFL history, the Bears can focus on finding the last piece to the Super Bowl puzzle: that’s right, this team is a quarterback away from … well, still winning four or five games.

I suppose the defense could pull a “2005″ and carry Chicago back to the playoffs, but there’s a better chance Rex Grossman is named NFL MVP and retroactively wins the Heisman.

Which probably explains why the front office might be interested in Tampa Bay’s-not-for-long fifth-stringer, Chris Simms. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Simms had many suitors, although the Bears weren’t in the running (at least publicly) at the time. And even though Simms’ game might not be what it once was, he’s still the most attractive option in Chicago. And there’s some chance the team could try to get him. One scenario for the Bears could be giving back the Bucs their sixth-round pick. Tampa Bay traded its 2009 sixth-rounder for Griese in March, and the Bears could simply return it, making it a trade of Griese for Simms.

The only problem with that scenario is Simms is out of contract after this season, and Griese is signed through 2010. The Bears would have to think they could re-sign Simms to swap a pick for him. And that’s the crux of the problem — Simms or Griese, the Bears still have long-term issues at quarterback. And, frankly, that would be the case if Chicago somehow ended up with Brett Favre for 2008. Which makes you wonder (again) why the club made virtually no effort to find the next “quarterback of the future” at any point this offseason. Well, if you discount re-signing Grossman to a one-year deal.