Bold Bears set up for success by following Eagles' Super Bowl blueprint

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - or so they say.

If that's truly the case, the Eagles should be blushing over how much the Bears clearly respect the way Philadelphia transformed its once talent-poor roster into a Super Bowl winner in just a few years. Chicago started down the same path as the Eagles last offseason, and has continued to follow the blueprint this time around.

Just like the Eagles and Carson Wentz, the Bears' plan is centered around a young quarterback in Mitch Trubisky, and started with the dramatic trade up last year to snag him with the No. 2 overall pick.

The Bears and Eagles both gave up significant draft assets to acquire their franchise quarterbacks, and in both cases, critics believed the teams would struggle to surround those pivots with a strong supporting cast due to a lack of resources.

Yet, having a rookie quarterback who could essentially start from Day 1 has given both rebuilding clubs much more financial freedom. Here's Trubisky's rookie contract, which - thanks to the wage scale - is almost identical to Wentz's in terms of yearly cap hits, via Spotrac.

So, because Trubisky costs around a quarter of the going rate for a starting quarterback, the Bears can afford to be aggressive in rebuilding their roster following four straight double-digit-loss seasons, knowing they won't have to worry about the league's most expensive position until at least 2020.

And Chicago been very aggressive in the first few days of free agency to fix the 30th-ranked offense from last season.

Allen Robinson, one of the top two free-agent receivers available, signed a reported three-year, $42-million contract with Chicago, giving Trubisky the No. 1 wideout he desperately lacked in his rookie campaign.

Then, the Bears found another big-bodied receiving weapon for their young pivot in tight end Trey Burton, who spent the last four seasons with the Eagles (likely not a coincidence), handing him a four-year, $32-million deal.

Finally, Chicago added some speed on the outside by inking former Falcons receiver Taylor Gabriel to a deal worth up to $7 million per season with incentives.

Does the combination of Robinson, Burton, and Gabriel remind you of another pass-catching group?

New Bears head coach Matt Nagy - just like Eagles head coach Doug Pederson - is a disciple of the Chiefs' Andy Reid, and will likely want to run the same spread-based offense he and Pederson learned while working as coordinators in Kansas City.

Robinson will act as the Bears' version of Alshon Jeffery, Burton will be Zach Ertz (or Travis Kelce), and Gabriel should slot into the Torrey Smith/Tyreek Hill role.

Beyond those three, Chicago has Jordan Howard to act as the Kareem Hunt-like workhorse, Tarik Cohen as the perfect do-it-all spark plug, and other pass-catchers like Cameron Meredith and Adam Shaheen who can excel in supporting roles.

Of course, this plan will ultimately be less effective if the young quarterback doesn't explode into an MVP candidate in his sophomore year.

However, while Trubisky hasn't played at Wentz's level, neither did Wentz in his first NFL season, when the likes of Ryan Mathews and Jordan Matthews had starring roles in Philly.

Wentz attempted 110 more passes as a rookie than Trubisky did, throwing for nine more touchdowns and nearly 1,600 more yards. However, he also had seven more interceptions, a worse yards-per-attempt average, less rushing yards, and Pederson - not ex-Bears coach John Fox - on the sideline.

Expecting the more passive Trubisky to become the dominant force that Wentz was before his knee injury is very optimistic, but the two do share similar traits, such as good pocket mobility, the ability to throw on the run, enough arm strength to make every pass, and great toughness.

Trubisky is more than capable of running the same offense that Wentz does in Philadelphia, and thanks to its strong start in free agency, Chicago doesn't need him to be an All-Pro or even a top-10 quarterback before the end of his rookie contract to be successful.

The Bears might not be Super Bowl contenders this season - they play in perhaps the league's toughest division and lack the foundational defensive pieces that helped propel the Eagles' quick turnaround - but they've set themselves up to compete sooner rather than later by smartly surrounding their promising and inexpensive quarterback with weapons all over the field.

Potentially, you and your new-look offense, Mr. Robinson.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)