Bears Must Exercise Patience, Trust in New GM Ryan Pace
Published by Zach Kruse on January 8, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
With a significant rebuild looming, the Chicago Bears have first chosen a new general manager to lead the way.
The team announced Thursday the hiring of 37-year-old Ryan Pace, who has spent the last 14 years working in various capacities inside the New Orleans Saints front office. He will take over the mess left by departing general manager Phil Emery, who was fired following Chicago’s 5-11 season in 2014.
Time is now the most necessary commodity the Bears can provide Pace, a first-time general manager inheriting what could be a long climb back to relevancy for Chicago.
His immediate checklist is a long one. Pace needs to identify the next head coach of the Bears, make a decision on the future of quarterback Jay Cutler and restock the roster with young talent. No task is more important than the next, but all three need to be executed correctly for the Bears to climb out of the division cellar and back into the NFL‘s upper tier.
There is no rushing the process. And given the glowing early reviews on Pace’s hiring in Chicago, a certain level of trust should be provided to the 37-year-old.
Just look at some of reactions to the news from around the NFL:
It will be on Pace to make good on the trust.
His selection of a head coach is vital. Pace will not be hiring a leader expected to take the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2015. Upper management will say Chicago is ready right now to compete for championships, but that’s simply not the case.
In the grand scheme, Pace needs a coach willing to grow and learn with a team that might first take a few more bumps and bruises before the rebuild is complete. There is probably no candidate capable of turning the Bears—as currently constructed—back into contenders in just one year.
Emery lasted just three years in Chicago, mostly because he made the wrong decision on a head coach. The Bears went just 23-25 during his tenure, including a 13-17 run with now-fired coach Marc Trestman leading the club.
Three years is likely the shortest window possible for truly judging a general manager. But Emery wrote out his own pink slip with the wrong coach, the wrong quarterback and an aging, talent-deficient roster.
Pace’s call on Cutler will likely immediately follow the hiring of the Bears’ next head coach. And it’s not an easy one.
In his defense, Emery was caught in a kind of no man’s land this past offseason. He had an equally tough call on Cutler, a franchise quarterback one play and an untamable, self-destructive force on the next. With Cutler scheduled to become a free agent this past March, Emery either had to pay the money to keep him in Chicago or start over at the game’s most important position. He rolled the dice with Cutler and lost big.
Cutler did post his best career numbers in 2014, but he also led the NFL in turnovers and held the controls to one of the league’s more unproductive offenses. He was benched in Week 16, only to return in Week 17 to finish out an uninspiring season.
It is now safe to wonder if the light will ever come on for the 31-year-old quarterback.
Cutler has $15.5 million in guaranteed money coming his way in 2015, per Spotrac. Pace’s deadline for a decision is really March 12, when another $10 million of Cutler’s 2016 salary becomes fully guaranteed. His options basically boil down to finding a trade partner willing to take on his exorbitant salary, cutting Cutler and taking on a massive cap hit ($19.5 million) or keeping him in Chicago through at least the 2016 season.
There is no easy answer. Finding a trade partner will be difficult, even in today’s quarterback landscape. Releasing him is barely an option given the cap ramifications, but keeping him feels like throwing away two years and lighting money on fire.
Either way, one of Pace’s early goals will have to be finding a franchise quarterback for the long haul.
Unfortunately, he also has a number of other problems areas to address on the roster.
The list of readily identifiable young talent in Chicago is a short one. Guard Kyle Long and receiver Alshon Jeffery are Pro Bowl players, while cornerback Kyle Fuller has high upside. Defensive tackles Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson, linebacker Christian Jones and safety Brock Vereen showed brief flashes as rookies.
Who else can be considered building blocks?
Running back Matt Forte remains one of the most underrated players in the league. But he’s also 29 years old, and his contract runs out after the 2015 season. Defensive Lamarr Houston is only 27, but he’s also in the process of coming back from knee surgery.
The vast majority of the team’s remaining recognizable players are all on the wrong side of the 30: receiver Brandon Marshall (30), defensive end Jared Allen (32), linebackers Lance Briggs (34) and D.J. Williams (32), cornerbacks Tim Jennings (31) and Charles Tillman (33), left tackle Jermon Bushrod (30), defensive tackle Jay Ratliff (33) and center Roberto Garza (35). Even Cutler is almost 32.
Among the team’s looming free agents are Briggs, Tillman, Williams, safety Chris Conte, defensive tackle Stephen Paea and center Brian de la Puente.
Looking at the age and talent of the roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and it’s no wonder the Bears only won five games in 2014. Emery is leaving the cupboard awfully bare.
Over time, Pace needs to find a franchise quarterback and rehaul the defense at every level. Draft misses will be looked upon harshly, as a team with this many holes can’t afford to squander picks. Finding young talent through free agency is almost never a realistic option.
With much to do must come the provided time needed to accomplish the rebuild. Emery only received three years, but his teams decreased in wins every season he was in charge.
If given nothing else, Ryan Pace must be handed the time and patience necessary to put his stamp on a team dying for a new direction.
Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report.
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