Super Bowl Sunday was a crowning moment for so many people. However, Ryan Pace was not one of them. The Chicago Bears GM was forced to watch as Patrick Mahomes, a player who’d been in his grasp three short years ago, led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. A moment that crowned his career with the trifecta of an MVP, a ring, and a Super Bowl MVP before he was even 25-years old. For all the good Pace has done for the Bears franchise, he’s now merely viewed as the guy who passed on Mahomes in favor of Mitch Trubisky.
This leaves an air of uncertainty around the coming offseason. No 1st round pick. Limited salary cap space. People are wondering what Pace will do with the pressure now squarely on his shoulders like never before. His Trubisky mistake reared its head big time this past season. Yet that didn’t stop the GM from doubling down and the end-of-year press conference and declaring the 25-year old would remain the starter in 2020.
It sounded like a man who didn’t fully understand his situation. One characterized by a season wasted because of several key draft failures. Trubisky being one. Adam Shaheen and Leonard Floyd being others. Everything comes back to the quarterback though. Pace has delivered one winning season in five years. Can he honestly survive 2020 if they don’t get back to the playoffs? Ownership has expressed confidence in him but things change fast in the NFL.
Especially when losing is involved.
With Mahomes a champion and the threat of losing his job 11 months away, how will Pace respond?
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Ryan Pace is a man who will go down swinging
Under the current conditions, most people might assume what the Bears will do. They’ll spend most of their available cap space on re-signing key players and grabbing a couple of mid tier free agents. Probably a veteran QB on the cheap who can provide depth behind Trubisky. Then they’ll do the best they can to score as many impact players as possible in the draft. Nothing flashy.
While there is a logic to this approach, it’s not one that gives a person optimism the Bears will be in a significantly better position next season. Not with how strong the division and the NFC in general will be. However, this is Pace we’re talking about.
Playing it safe has never really been his style. Don’t forget the note he wrote to himself shortly after drafting Trubisky.
“Maybe we can make status quo decisions and please the pundits, or make decisions that are predictable and easily accepted positions,” Pace wrote. “Or we can (expletive) take chances and be bold and be great. I’m not going to look back with regrets. I can’t do that to myself. I can’t do that to this building. And bottom line is you don’t achieve greatness in this league without great quarterback play.”
Pace has carved a career out of being aggressive.
He’s not afraid to take chances if he feels it makes his team better. Just one year after trading up to secure Trubisky, he engineered the blockbuster deal for Khalil Mack and then moved up from the 4th round all the way to the 2nd to get Anthony Miller. A year later he jumped up the board again to draft David Montgomery. Nothing about Pace’s tenure illustrates a man who’s content at playing it safe.
Already the Bears started the offseason fast with a massive overhaul of their coaching staff. They gave considerable guaranteed money to sign CFL star Tre Roberson ahead of nine other teams. It feels like Pace has no plans to stay mostly quiet this offseason. He’s staying true to who he is, which means fans can expect some interesting maneuvers in the next three months.
