Ryan Pace shaking his head amidst a blowout loss to Green Bay back in November was a perfect visual. There was a man who took over the Chicago Bears in 2015. He had a plan of action. Tear it all down, rebuild the culture, fix the defense, and pick the right moment to find that quarterback. It was a good plan. One the GM came so close to pulling off.
John Fox was hired and accomplished the first two goals. The locker room fissures were removed. High-character players like Akiem Hicks and Danny Trevathan started coming in. The only thing left to do was find that quarterback. His opportunity arrived in 2017. The Bears were coming off a 3-13 finish the year before. This gave them the #3 pick in the draft with three seemingly solid options to choose from.
Pace knew who he wanted and traded up to #2 to make sure he got him.
Everybody knows the story after that. The Bears selected Mitch Trubisky out of North Carolina. While the young quarterback does lead every QB in franchise history in passer rating, that is small comfort considering his two other contemporaries were Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. A league and Super Bowl MVP and a two-time Pro Bowler.
Trubisky has largely been a disappointment. While nobody disputes his physical skills, he clearly doesn’t grasp the mental side of the game. Not at the level expected of the first QB picked in a draft. Most agree that selection by Pace set the Bears back years, costing them a golden opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl.
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That is likely why Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports is hearing from several sources that Pace is all but done in Chicago.
“League scuttlebutt is that Chicago will eventually fire GM Ryan Pace after six years in large part due to his failure to figure out the quarterback position. Howie Roseman (Eagles), Tom Telesco (Chargers), Dave Gettleman (Giants) and John Elway (Broncos) are viewed as safe according to people I’ve spoken to.”
Ryan Pace fate is largely sealed barring a miracle
The general feeling I’ve gotten from my own sources is this is the truth. Pace is the most likely person of power in the Bears organization to be fired after the season ends. What isn’t yet clear are the fates of head coach Matt Nagy and team president Ted Phillips. Rumors are Phillips may choose to retire after the season. Nagy? The McCaskey family seems to like him and would hate to fire him unless given no other choice.
The belief is the head coach can still save himself if he can somehow get the Bears into the playoffs. That would likely require winning the final three games. It would be quite a turnaround after the team just got done losing six-straight not too long ago. In Pace’s case? It would take more than that. Not only a run to the playoffs but also evidence Trubisky has turned a corner and started to play much better.
Not hard to see why most believe he’s gone.
At that point, the Bears would have a decision to make. If only Ryan Pace is out, who do they hire at GM to pair with and/or evaluate Nagy? If both are out, who do they bring in as the next combination to try dragging this team out of the mud? Either way, it is becoming apparent that the sixth season will likely end up being the last for Pace. An unfortunate end for a guy who did a lot of good things to bring the Bears back to respectability.