For whatever reason, there is a ton of vitriol for Buccaneers backup quarterback Mike Glennon as he heads towards free agency and a likely signing with the Chicago Bears. It may stem from the amount of money he’s expected to be given, because that vitriol got cranked up again on Thursday morning with a report of an impending contract with Chicago.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Bears are expected to give Glennon a three-year deal that will average $14.5 million per year when free agency opens at 4 p.m. ET Thursday.

When you say “fourteen and a half million per year” out loud, it’s easy to think that’s a lot of money, especially for a guy with limited starting experience. People have been freaking out over the numbers for a few days now.

There is also a very lazy comparison to Brock Osweiler -- guy who is really tall and has limited starting experience and got paid in free agency -- when it comes to assessing Glennon. Osweiler hasn’t worked out well for the Texans (to put it nicely) and people are assuming the same for Glennon. He’s a substantially better quarterback, but whatever’s easy, sure, go for it guys.

Anyway, the Glennon deal isn’t even that crazy. Cruise over to Spotrac.com, where they helpfully already have Glennon slotted in at $14.5 million per year in the average value rankings for quarterbacks, and the contract just makes sense. He’s behind just about every single starting quarterback out there, while being above all the guys on rookie deals and also above guys like Robert Griffin III and Chase Daniel, who, you know, aren’t starters. 

The Bears probably aren’t committing $43.5 million to Glennon in fully guaranteed money, because NFL contracts rarely work that way. And they can draft and develop a guy without having to throw an unproven rookie into the fire. 

But don’t try and talk sense to anyone when it comes to the unknown. Everyone is too busy making fun of the decision.

 

Bears fans are also taking this in stride and in no way comparing Glennon to Osweiler.

Again, it’s kind of lazy. They’re both tall. They both hit free agency. Glennon isn’t going to hamstring the Bears with this deal and he’s a better quarterback. 

Time will tell and it’s an unpopular opinion right now, but Mike Glennon for less than $45 million isn’t a bad deal.