Everybody can safely say Matt Nagy is out as head coach of the Chicago Bears. What remains uncertain is the status of Ryan Pace. Could he somehow survive as GM of the organization? Some out there believe it’s still a possibility. He has some nice young talent scattered across the roster and optimism is high on Justin Fields, the quarterback he helped draft. However, a majority of people don’t believe that is enough to save him. Including Bears ownership. At least according to Lance Briggs.
The seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker has become a mainstay for the NBC Sports Chicago segments before and after games hosted by David Kaplan. He’s well aware of this team’s issues and what is going on with their power structure. That is why it was more than a little interesting when he tweeted out of the blue that the organization is on the hunt for a new GM. He was a bit coy about it, but the message was clear.
Anybody else hear that the Bears are searching for a new GM? 😉…. Asking for a friend. @alexbrown96 @olin_kreutz @thekapman @LaurenceWHolmes @leilarahimi @BoyleNBCS @PanzUSE
— Lance Briggs (@LanceBriggs) December 10, 2021
What makes this so interesting?
Briggs actually has done something like this before. Last year, he tweeted a single line that the Chicago White Sox would soon be hiring an “old” coach. Barely 24 hours later, the team came to terms with Tony La Russa, the 76-year old former manager who ran the Sox from 1979 to 1986. So for Briggs to put something out on the Bears GM situation? It means he is hearing something from a source he deems credible.
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I can see an old Sox coach returning today..👀
— Lance Briggs (@LanceBriggs) October 28, 2020
This is big news. It means there won’t be any half measures going into this offseason. There is a strong likelihood that George McCaskey intends to clean house and start over with a new GM and a new head coach. No doubt in hopes of building the necessary structure to make Justin Fields a successful quarterback. That will make for a fascinating storyline going into next month.
Lance Briggs and Bears fans are hoping the team gets it right
In the end, the legacy of Pace will be a rather simple one. He built a great defense and kept the legacy of strong running games going. However, he misfired on the two most important decisions of his career. Drafting the quarterback and hiring the head coach. Not only did he pick the wrong QB in 2017 with Mitch Trubisky, but he made the problem worse by hiring Nagy to develop him. Time has proven the coach is unequal to such a task.
As a result, the Bears are almost right back where they were in 2015. Old, injured and searching for answers as to why they can’t catch up to Green Bay. Pace has nobody to blame but himself. He’s had seven years to get this thing right and couldn’t do it. One winning season in that timeframe. No playoff victories. Lance Briggs and everybody else have seen enough.
GMs have been fired for way less.
It is time for a fresh start. Bring somebody in that won’t carelessly waste resources, find blue chip talents, and understands how to build a structure around a young quarterback. Who might that be? There are plenty of big names out there, but with McCaskey, it is impossible to predict. Nobody saw Pace coming and nobody saw Phil Emery coming either. The best advice over the next month? Expect the unexpected.