The job of an NFL general manager is to build a winning team. They have to fill all 22 starting jobs with good players. Yet everybody knows the league has changed. This isn’t the 1960s or ’70s when teams could get away with great defense and a strong running game. This is the age of the quarterbacks. If you don’t have one, you don’t win. True to form, the Chicago Bears seem to have saddled themselves with a GM in Ryan Pace who can’t land one.
His track record at the position is also arguably the worst in the NFL among active GMs. His first big move was signing Mike Glennon in March of 2017. A month later he shocked the league when he traded up for Mitch Trubisky. Then last year he traded a 4th round pick to acquire Nick Foles. All three have blown up in his face. Yet for some reason Bears ownership felt it was the right decision to put that position in Pace’s hands once again.
Now they could be about to reap what they sowed.
Word is increasing that the Bears are heavily involved in the idea of signing veteran quarterback Andy Dalton as the second day of the legal tampering period begins. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune broke the rumor and that has since been reinforced by top insiders like Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. So this is a real possibility.
It shouldn’t be a huge shock either. Remember that Bill Lazor is the Bears’ offensive coordinator. He worked with Dalton for two years in Cincinnati. So there are connections to the coaching staff. It wouldn’t be hard to envision Pace and head coach Matt Nagy being talked into this course of action.
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Will be a fascinating day for the #Bears at Halas Hall.
– They are believed to be in pursuit of the top free agent on the market LT Trent Williams.
– Buzz that Andy Dalton could head to Chicago increasing.https://t.co/JVdu5EnGks
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) March 16, 2021
Ryan Pace will likely die as he lived: acquiring inadequate QBs
Now one must respect Dalton. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler and has had a long, productive career. Yet the results speak for themselves. No playoff victories and clear evidence of a decline in his play over the past three years. From 2011 through 2017, his career passer rating was 88.7. Since the start of 2018, that has dropped to 84.1. He’s thrown 33 interceptions in 35 games during that span.
What could Ryan Pace possibly be seeing that others aren’t? The culprit may be his final five-game stretch in Dallas last year. During that run, he went 3-2 with 1,300 yards passing, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions. Easily the best stretch he’s had in a long time. Perhaps the Bears feel that is the player he can still be and all they’d have to do is surround him with enough help.
Then again this is the same argument they’ve used before.
Andy Dalton is not a solution. He is an admission of defeat. A waving of the white flag by Pace whether he realizes it or not. The reality is the Bears GM had his great opportunity to get that special quarterback and he blew it. Now fans get to watch his ship slowly sink into the massive graveyard that has claimed so many others like him.
Make no mistake. If Dalton is the guy, then 2021 is going to be a miserable experience. Either another mediocre season or more likely their first losing campaign since 2017. That would be an incredibly appropriate way to see Pace’s tenure in Chicago come to a close.
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