Veteran quarterback Nathan Peterman on Wednesday finalized a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears.
The signing adds QB depth behind starter Justin Fields and back-up Trevor Siemian.
Another body was needed after the Bears cut ties with Nick Foles last month. But it is unclear if general manager Ryan Poles expects to carry three quarterbacks on his roster into the regular season or whether Peterman will simply serve to help the Bears push through organized team activities, minicamp, training camp and the preseason.
Peterman spent the last three-plus seasons with the Raiders, with whom he attempted just five passes during regular-season action. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round in 2017, making four starts and playing in eight games over two seasons.
One of Peterman’s starts came in Week 9 of 2018 against the Bears, a woeful performance in which he was sacked four times and threw three interceptions in a 41-9 loss. With his team down 28 points on the final play of the first half, Peterman opted against throwing a pass into the end zone from the Bears 37 yard line and instead settled for a meaningless 24-yard scramble as time ran out.
That game marked his last performance in a Bills uniform. He was released a little more than a week later and signed to the Raiders practice squad the following month.
In Peterman’s 10 career outings in the NFL, he has completed 52.6% of his passes while posting a 34.0 passer rating. He is expected to join the Bears for OTAs next week as their third-team quarterback.
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