The Chicago Bears have a relatively steady track record when it comes to hiring new GMs. Every single one for the past 40 years has come in without prior experience running their own team. Now, this isn’t a criticism. Plenty of franchises do that. Like head coaches, it’s not a regular trend for guys to get second chances. Still, it does happen.

So is there validity in the idea of giving GMs another shot as well? There are plenty of examples. Bill Polian built Super Bowl contenders in Buffalo, Carolina, and Indianapolis. Ernie Accorsi did the same in Cleveland and New York. Bobby Beathard did it in Washington and San Diego. Ron Wolf worked magic in both Tampa Bay and Green Bay.

It’s not like the Bears haven’t tried this option before.

Back in 1974, they lured Jim Finks away from Minnesota to become their new GM and team president. This after being the Vikings GM since 1964. George Halas wanted a guy with a proven track record to rebuild the franchise. He got him. Finks got the Bears back to the playoffs by 1977 and eventually set the stage for their dominance in the 1980s that included a Super Bowl title.

Given how lacking the McCaskey family is in true football connections, maybe it’s time they considered the same route if they do indeed move on from Ryan Pace after this season. They should consider it because the market is filled with a number of viable options.

Chicago Bears have a lot of proven GM options on the market

Rick Smith (Free agent)

Notable draft picks:

• Mario Williams
• Owen Daniels
• Jacoby Jones
• Duane Brown
• Connor Barwin
• Glover Quin
• J.J. Watt
• Brandon Brooks
• DeAndre Hopkins
• Jadeveon Clowney
• Deshaun Watson

The Houston Texans have to be kicking themselves over and over again for firing him towards the end of 2017. While he was distracted by his wife’s battle with breast cancer, their willingness to move on and hand GM duties to head coach Bill O’Brien proved to be a colossal mistake. The team that looked like a contender just two years ago has become one of the AFC bottom dwellers despite having a legitimate franchise quarterback in Watson who Smith handed them right before being forced to exit. He’ll only be 51 next year so age isn’t an issue. The guy is ready to return and should have a chip on his shoulder.

Martin Mayhew (49ers VP of Player Personnel)

Notable draft picks:

• Matthew Stafford
• Ndamukong Suh
• Riley Reiff
• Ezekiel Ansah
• Darius Slay
• Larry Warford
• Eric Ebron

People still don’t give Mayhew enough credit for what he accomplished in Detroit. He took over a Lions team that had just gone 0-16 in 2008. The bottom of the barrel. Through good drafting and effort, he had them in the playoffs by 2011. An incredible turnaround given how devoid the roster was of talent when he took over. He got them to the playoffs twice during his tenure and should’ve had a playoff win in 2014 if not for a bogus penalty call in Dallas. Sadly despite a late-season surge in 2015, they finished 7-9 and he was shown the door. The team has reached the postseason just once since and that was the year after he left when it was still mostly his roster.

Jeff Ireland (Saints assistant GM)

Notable draft picks:

• Jake Long
• Vontae Davis
• Reshad Jones
• Mike Pouncey
• Ryan Tannehill
• Olivier Vernon
• Lamar Miller

Ireland actually has ties to the Chicago Bears. He was a ballboy for them back in the 1980s. A grandson of former team exec Jim Parmer. So he had a legacy to live up to when he took over the Miami Dolphins in 2008. Incredibly, he took a team that went 1-15 the year before and won the division that first season. Unfortunately, while he continued to draft well, he was trapped in the same division as the Patriots dynasty with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick at their peaks. That made it exceedingly difficult to reach the playoffs. His team went 7-9 or 8-8 in four of the next five seasons. They were always close but never quite got over the hump.

Thomas Dimitroff (Free agent)

Notable draft picks:

• Matt Ryan
• Julio Jones
• Desmond Trufant
• Jake Matthews
• Devonta Freeman
• Grady Jarrett
• Deion Jones
• Austin Hooper
• Calvin Ridley

Things didn’t end how Dimitroff hoped, but man was he close. The Falcons owe their greatest era of success in franchise history to the former GM. His team came painfully close to winning the Super Bowl in 2016 before an epic collapse ruined everything. His teams made the playoffs seven times and had equal success finding talent on offense and defense. Sadly a poor start to this year saw ownership clean house. Now Dimitroff is out of a job for the first time in a decade. He shouldn’t be for long.

Brian Xanders (Rams senior executive)

Notable draft picks:

• Demaryius Thomas
• Zane Beadles
• Von Miller
• Julius Thomas
• Derek Wolfe
• Malik Jackson
• Danny Trevathan

Xanders is a guy who was trapped in between two franchise-defining eras. He took over as GM in Denver a year after Mike Shanahan was fired. Then he stepped away in 2012 right as John Elway was taking over team operations en route to another Super Bowl three years later. Nobody gives him nearly enough credit for being the guy who essentially laid the foundation of that 2015 championship team including their best wide receiver and three key members of their historic defense led by Super Bowl MVP Von Miller. It feels like people unfairly chastise him for the Tim Tebow pick in 2009, which isn’t entirely fair.