The Chicago Bears made a significant investment to the quarterback room this offseason by signing former starter and 12-year veteran Case Keenum to the roster.

The addition of Keenum wasn't made to push for the starting job. Caleb Williams is obviously that guy in Chicago for the long-term future. But, Keenum's presence does offer a lot of value to the entire team.

He's already been a big influence as a mentor for Williams and still has the ability to play at a high level if anything were to happen to Williams.

"I have a knack of sticking around and being ready to go when my name is called," Keenum told reporters on Wednesday. "No matter when that is or how that is."

That aspect and mindset puts some pressure on the rest of the quarterback room. Already we've seen Keenum mixing in behind Williams with the second-team offense during organized team activities ahead of Tyson Bagent and Austin Reed.

While was the case on that specific day of practice, the coaches have been rotating all the guys in to give everyone some opportunities at this point in the offseason.

"That's how we explained it to [Keenum] and how we explained it to Tyson," head coach Ben Johnson said on Wednesday. "We're going to continue to mix up the reps over the course of the preseason. At some point in training camp we'll make a decision with who has earned that No. 2 job. For right now, we got a battle."

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While it's a "battle" for the job, Johnson again reiterated that there is no depth chart during OTAs. Players are looking to earn jobs right now, and like other positions, the true battles will be decided during training camp later in the summer.

Even still, Keenum's presence mixing in is great competition for Bagent, who finally gets a fire underneath him to secure his position as the backup quarterback.

Bagent won the QB2 job as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and even got some playing time when Justin Fields went down with the thumb injury. Last year, Bagent beat out Brett Rypien (another long-time veteran) for the role once again.

While talking to the media for the first time since being signed as a free agent, Keenum explained what he's seen out of the other quarterbacks in the room and gave great early reviews about each player.

"I'm impressed with that whole room," Keenum said. "Caleb obviously I've already talked about him. I think Tyson's going to play a long time in this league, I really do. He is very athletic, he's trained, and he is hungry. He's one of the most well prepared players on that field every day. And Austin [Reed], I see a lot of myself in Austin. Young guy that just needs a shot and is hungry, doesn't get a lot of reps but makes the most of it when he can."

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Keenum continues to be the most underrated addition to this roster in terms of everything that he brings to the table, whether it's just being a player/coach mentor or being a high-level backup on the field.

He's certainly impressed everyone early on and will bring out some much needed competition on the field to the room later in the summer.

‘This could be a special place’ – Case Keenum explains why he chose to come to Chicago and work under Ben Johnson with Caleb Williams

He’s in the perfect situation.