Ryan Pace doesn't talk to the media much, but when he does he certainly doesn't lack a way with words. The Chicago Bears GM didn't try to hide his dissatisfaction with the way the 2016 season went for his team. He repeatedly described the 3-13 finish using the word "unacceptable." He also wasn't bashful in his confidence that it would not happen again moving forward.
When asked to describe what went wrong, Pace could've easily leaned on a number of excuses. Chief among them being the loss of 19 players to Injured Reserve, not counting the many others who missed time with various ailments. To say nothing of the two additional suspensions of Alshon Jeffery and Jerrell Freeman.
Pace however refused to hide behind that.
“I’ve been thinking about that constantly. It was a significant thing for us. I think the wrong thing to do is for me to put our heads in the sand and say, ‘Oh, man, it was bad luck. Maybe better luck next year.’ We’re not going to do that.”Above all the question centered around what he planned to do going forward. Pace was adamant about his excitement for the coming off-season. Not only would the Bears have a healthy amount of salary cap space, but also high draft position. That means they could be aggressive in order to improve the roster. Nowhere more so than the quarterback position.
QB Situation
It was stated that "everything is on the table" regarding what the plans are at quarterback. Of course the conversation must start with Jay Cutler. Pace only stated that the veteran is ahead of schedule in his healing from a torn labrum in his shoulder. Regarding his future with the Bears, no decision has been made. Only that he and his agent would be the first to know. Things got interesting though after the press conference. Chris Boden of CSNChicago got a chance to sit down with the 38-year old GM in a one-on-one interview. Pace made it clear that he knew what he was getting into with this team and the work it would take to rebuild it from an old and decaying roster back into a contender. Where it got eye-opening is when the discussion turned to the draft and where the Bears would be picking. Pace didn't come out and declare anything, but his selection of words was fairly significant."I think when you're picking top five, you're looking for an impact guy. Now different positions will have different expectations, depending on who you're picking. The quarterback is a position we talk a lot about. Sometimes playing a young quarterback right away isn't the best thing. So you just got to look at who it is and what position it is. I really think it has to align. I don't want to take a quarterback that we're not all on board on just because we got to take the position. It really has to align for you, and I think as you got deeper into the roster you'd realize, 'Hey, there's a lot of critical needs that we have to address in other areas.' So that's kind of what we we're doing and I think there will be a point in time where quarterback is going to be addressed."One philosophy that Pace has stood by since he took over in 2015 was that he would take the best player available on the board, regardless of position. It's how he's landed guys like Leonard Floyd, Cody Whitehair and Jordan Howard. He doesn't listen to the outside noise and sticks to his board. Why is this so important? In the context of the 2017 draft, most experts believe that the quarterback class is lacking proven prospects who are worth a top five selection. There is lots of talent at the position, but little polish. Meanwhile the class is flush with talent at pass rusher and safety, two spots the defense could use more help at in a big way.
