People tend to forget the catalyst behind this entire Chicago Bears offseason was George McCaskey. He held its fate in his hands back in January when he had a decision to make. Does he clean house with a new GM and head coach, or does he stand firm with Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy? In the end, he stayed with the status quo. A decision that was met with minimal enthusiasm by fans and the media.
Especially after that ugly press conference he and Ted Phillips put together. Nobody felt McCaskey had a clue what he was doing. He just didn’t want to make sweeping changes because it would cost too much money. This wasn’t about trying to make his football team better. To his credit, the team chairman weathered the storm. He trusted Pace and Nagy to do everything in their power to get the organization pointed in the right direction.
After some tense months that followed, everything cap to a head in April.
Everybody was wondering the same thing. How much freedom did Pace really have? Did McCaskey give him a full green light to do whatever was necessary or had the owner put a leash on the GM? Many felt there was no way he’d allow a guy on the hot seat to mortgage the future of his franchise. So one can imagine everybody was shocked when Chicago jumped up from #20 overall to #11, securing Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.
While there was euphoria in the Bears’ draft room, how did McCaskey himself react? Pace revealed this to Adam Jahns of The Athletic.
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After the Fields selection, Pace and Nagy met with McCaskey together in his office.
“I remember walking in, and he was smiling,” Pace said. “It was more like, ‘Hey, we told you we’d work through this and we did. It came down to this moment.’ … None of that happens without Ted and George giving us the support, the autonomy and the flexibility.”
It would seem McCaskey got the result he was looking for. Not only landing a potential franchise quarterback but more importantly the hope and support of Bears fans. Something that was in dangerously short supply after what had been a mundane and often frustrating offseason to that point. Pace and Nagy got them back in one bold stroke. Exactly as the Bears chairman had hoped they would.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-vOpfIYTAg&t=110s&ab_channel=ChicagoBears
George McCaskey might have made a franchise-altering decision
What happens if Fields ends up being the elusive franchise QB Chicago has waited for? Then Bears fans will owe McCaskey an apology. Everything about Fields’ arrival started during that fateful moment when he decided he was going to keep Pace and Nagy. If he doesn’t do that, the odds of the Bears making the same aggressive move in the 1st round they did with an entirely new regime are almost nonexistent. His willingness to not go with the popular winds was deeply unpopular. It would’ve been so easy to give the fans what they wanted.
However, George McCaskey felt in his bones that these two men were right for the Bears organization. Pace and Nagy understood where they wanted to take the organization. All they needed was time to fix the primary issue. So McCaskey sucked it up and took his lumps from the media, trusting their vision. It took some time and a little luck but they got their guy.
Chicago has united behind the Bears again.
One can bet Soldier Field will be sold out from the jump. Money will be flowing in for those Fields jerseys. Excitement for the future is something that seemed dead not too long ago after the Mitch Trubisky flameout. McCaskey isn’t perfect. Still, nobody will deserve more credit (or blame) for what’s to come than him.