The Ups and Downs of General Manager Ryan Pace
The Bears have been going through several changes over the course of the last few years. Almost five years ago, the team let former head coach Lovie Smith and General Manager Jerry Angelo go. They brought in Phil Emery and an untested Marc Trestman to run the team. They had high hopes that combination work. That experiment lasted just two seasons, and after some serious problems, both Emery and Trestman were let go.
Enter Ryan Pace.
Admittedly, Pace inherited a mess. The team he got lacked a lot of great talent and was left with some serious issues. For instance, the large contract that Jay Cutler had signed was something that Pace got from his predecessor. There wasn’t much he could do about that.
There were a core group of guys that Pace could work with and that was about it. He had to rebuild.
Pace’s first free agent class, the one from his first year in 2015, represented the start of the rebuilding process. His biggest signing was Baltimore’s Pernell McPhee. Pace brought in some other guys to try to help the team succeed. He drafted for the first time in 2015. In that draft, Pace picked West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White with the hope that he would provide Cutler with a tool to get the ball down the field better. Pace drafted some defensive help in Eddie Goldman and he looked to be a key part of the Bears’ new 3-4 defense.
It appeared as if he was building a winner.
But we are three years into the Pace regime and the Bears are just as bad as they were when Emery and Trestman left. Is there something wrong with Pace? Remember Pace has never been a general manager before and is still learning how things work. The problem is, the Bears cannot afford to have him learn on the job at the cost of victories. Fans want this team to be a winner and so far, Pace hasn’t turned the Bears into one.
What is his problem?
In this analytical slide show, we will look at some of the different aspects of Ryan Pace’s activities during his three years with the team. We will look at some good things he has done in free agency and the draft as well as some of the bad things he has done in both. Finally, we will look at how his overall track record and see what he can do to improve the team.