Another day, another string of national media experts coming down hard on Ryan Pace. The Chicago Bears GM hasn’t heard the end of his decision to trade for quarterback Nick Foles. Not only did he willingly guarantee $21 million to the 31-year old. He also gave up a 4th round pick in the deal. That decision seems so foolish in retrospect because of the options that have since become available.
Cam Newton, the former league MVP in Carolina remains on the market after being released. Jameis Winston, fresh off 5,100 yards passing in 2019, signed a dirt cheap $1.1 million deal with the New Orleans Saints. Now Andy Dalton joins the fray after being cut by Cincinnati. The Bears could’ve had any of those guys for less money and not have to give up a pick. It just makes Pace look dumb, right?
That’s a convenient narrative. It operates under a flawed premise though. One that they all assume is that any quarterback with a big name would’ve been good for this coaching staff. Nobody is factoring in Matt Nagy in this equation. Not to mention his several assistants who also have ties to Foles.
Ryan Pace did what his head coach asked him to do
People just assume that Pace thrust his choice of quarterback on the organization. In reality, the GM did what he was asked to do by his head coach. He went and got a guy Nagy knows, trusts, and believes he can win football games with. Other people might like Newton or Dalton or Winston better for whatever reason. Those people aren’t Nagy. He wanted a guy who knows his offense and has won games in his offense.
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That wasn’t Dalton. That wasn’t Newton. It wasn’t Winston either. It was Foles. Does anybody believe that either of those other names could’ve mastered this offense with minimal offseason preparation and execute it at a high level in 2020? If they do, they’re fooling themselves. Nagy wanted Foles because he felt it gave his team the best chance to win this season. Pace gave him what he wanted.
While the GM is a big boy and can take the hits from the media, it doesn’t mean those hits are always justified. Especially in this case.
