Back in 2015, the Chicago Bears let go of their short-term general manager Phil Emery and were preparing for a full rebuild. They then decided to go with a first-time general manager who at the time would become the youngest general manager in NFL history at the age of 37. Ryan Pace didn’t have much experience, but he had plenty of knowledge from the New Orleans Saints’ incredible scouting system and moved up the ranks quickly.
With the idea of getting a young, inexperienced general manager, the Bears expected plenty of road bumps. Given that Pace inherited an incredibly horrendous and old roster, he completely retooled the entire team only holding onto a few players such as Kyle Fuller, Charles Leno, and Kyle Long. Due to the rebuild, the Bears were horrible for a few seasons.
The job security of Ryan Pace as the Chicago Bears GM is extremely controversial
In 2018, Pace finally got to bring in his own head coach and they immediately made a playoff push winning the NFC North with a record of 12-4. They fell short in the first round of the playoffs with the infamous “double doink” that has scarred Bears fans for years. However, that year showed a ton of promise with a generational defense, a young quarterback, and a young head coach. Everything was coming together, or so they thought.
Everything fell apart. The team hasn’t had a winning season since and they lost that young quarterback and that generational defense. There is plenty of blame to go both ways, but overall, Pace’s record has been poor. Now, what should be the plan with Ryan Pace? To paint the entire picture, let’s lay out the pros and cons of his tenure.