Four weeks to go. At 5-7, it’s fair to say things aren’t looking good for Ryan Pace. The Chicago Bears general manager doubled down this year. He gave his failed draft choice of Mitch Trubisky another chance while also making a bad trade (in hindsight) for Nick Foles. He also flushed $70 million down the toilet on Robert Quinn who’s been pretty much useless for weeks.
The past two months have become a literal nightmare for the man. It went from the team being on a streak towards the playoffs to them enduring what might be the biggest collapse in franchise history. The sort of thing that is certain to get him fired. Unless the Bears go 4-0 down the stretch, they will finish without a winning record for the fifth time in six seasons under him. A mark that nobody can escape with their job intact.
This is why insider buzz is fairly certain he’ll be gone.
After that, the speculation will really begin on who might end up replacing him. There will be no shortage of candidates. According to a source, ownership is at least doing preliminary research on such a possibility. They have an early list of names. While all of them aren’t clear at this stage, one did pop up on the radar.
That being Seattle Seahawks Vice President of Football Operations Scott Fitterer. This isn’t the first time that name has emerged among GM candidates. It’s been floating around for the past few years. Fitterer is widely seen has one of the primary aces Seahawks GM John Schneider has in his back pocket. A central part of that team’s ongoing success over the past decade.
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Fitterer looks like a solid Chicago Bears general manager option
The man joined the Seattle scouting department in 2001 and has climbed the ladder since. He’s gotten a chance to learn under a number of different GMs during that time from Mike Holmgren, Bob Ferguson, Tim Ruskell, and now John Schneider. He’s seen multiple strategies on how to build a Super Bowl team. Remember he was there in 2005 when the Seahawks reached the big game and again in 2013 when they crushed the Broncos for their first championship.
A big reason Fitterer is such a hot name is his work in the draft. The Seahawks promoted him to college scouting director in 2010. From that point on they’ve enjoyed a remarkable run of success drafting players.
- Russell Okung
- Earl Thomas
- Kam Chancellor
- Richard Sherman
- Bobby Wagner
- Russell Wilson
- Frank Clark
- Tyler Lockett
- Shaquill Griffin
- D.K. Metcalf
All of them Pro Bowl players with Hall of Famers mixed in.
Fitterer has worked in the Seahawks front office as a personnel director since 2015. He now has six solid seasons of experience. Three times more than Pace had when the McCaskeys plucked him from New Orleans. Reports are the man has a strong personality and isn’t afraid to be on camera. He seems to check all the necessary boxes for a Chicago Bears general manager. The only thing he hasn’t gotten is an opportunity.
