Jimmy Garoppolo is considered the jewel of this offseason’s quarterback class, but if the latest reports are to be believed, the Patriots are unlikely to trade him. (Not everybody’s buying that, by the way.) But if Garoppolo is indeed off the market, quarterback-needy teams will need to look elsewhere for help.

Which brings us to Mike Glennon, who was buried on the depth chart in Tampa Bay even before Jameis Winston arrived in 2015, and now he’ll have a chance to earn second-tier, starting quarterback money. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora wrote over the weekend that the Bears, poised to finally close the book on the Jay Cutler era, are intrigued by Glennon.

The Bears love Jimmy Garoppolo but that requires parting with multiple significant assets and they seem convinced Glennon can do the job. I’d anticipate the money being in the Ryan Fitzpatrick range from a year ago -- $12 million per season -- with the chance to earn significantly more via production and incentives.

And Yahoo.com’s Charles Robinson hears that Glennon’s deal could be a few million a season north of $12 million:

For some perspective, consider this: Cutler made $16 million in base salary last season (and counted $17 million against the cap) and would make $12.5 million in base salary ($16 million against the cap) in 2017. That said, $12 million-$15 million is the going rate for a replacement-level starter. In terms of annual average salary, paying Glennon $12 million-$15 million would rank him 23rd, after Andy Dalton ($16 million) and ahead of Robert Griffin III ($7.5 million).

In relative terms, Glennon’s contract certainly seems reasonable.

Meanwhile, the Bears won’t be the only team in the Glennon business; according to the Sacramento Bee’s Matt Barrows, if the 49ers can’t swing a deal for Kirk Cousins (it’s a long story -- you can get the details here), they would also be interested in Glennon, who has 18 career starts in four seasons, the last coming in 2014. For his career, Glennon has completed 59.4 percent of his throws with 30 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.

In case you’re wondering, two of the six CBSSports.com mock drafts have the Bears taking UNC quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with the third-overall pick.