Bears' Matt Nagy bemoans lack of combine but says: 'There are a lot of good quarterbacks in this draft class'

The Bears signed Andy Dalton, but they might still be in the QB market in the draft

The Chicago Bears already made a big quarterback move this offseason. They let incumbent starter Mitchell Trubisky -- the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft -- leave in free agency to become Josh Allen's backup with the Buffalo Bills, and replaced him with Andy Dalton, the longtime Cincinnati Bengals starter who last season was Dak Prescott's backup and then fill-in starter for the Dallas Cowboys. 

Of course, Dalton is 33 years old and only signed a one-year, $10 million deal, so the Bears may not be done adding to their quarterback room -- even with Nick Foles also on the roster already. The 2021 NFL Draft is considered a strong one for quarterbacks, particularly at the top, and Bears coach Matt Nagy has noticed. He and general manager Ryan Pace have gone to several pro days in recent weeks for some of the top prospects.

"It is more difficult [to evaluate these quarterbacks] because you just don't have the luxury of being at the combine and seeing these guys throw and see the ball come out of their hands and their footwork," Nagy said, per ESPN.com. "You get to see every one of those guys from the top guy to the bottom guy. Right now you just don't have the luxury of doing that. 

"As everybody knows, we've been to a few pro days with some of these quarterbacks and it definitely helps, but there is only so many of those you can do and see. What's fair is every other team is doing the same thing. Ryan [Pace] and I are super excited about going through that evaluation process together and how we do it. It's a challenge, but we look forward to it. There are a lot of good quarterbacks in this draft class."

While the Bears could be interested in one of the top signal-callers, it's unlikely they'd be able to land one with the No. 20 overall selection. Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson are widely expected to be the first two picks in the draft, while Mac Jones, Justin Fields, and Trey Lance are all rumored to be targets inside the top 10, and as high as No. 3. 

The Bears would almost surely have to trade up in order to get one of them, and it would cost quite a lot to do so, considering they are coming all the way from 20. Would Pace and Nagy really trade up for a quarterback again, considering how that went for them last time? Would Bears ownership even approve such a deal, considering the duo may be on their last legs if this season doesn't go well? The best case scenario for Chicago probably involves one or more of those passers somehow making it into the teens, allowing them to move up at a smaller cost than what it would take to jump into the top seven or eight picks in the draft. That seems unlikely, though, which means the Bears could still be searching for a long-term answer when next offseason rolls around.