It was a surreal scene at Halas Hall on Sunday. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy brought their offseason to a thrilling finish when they introduced 27-year old edge rusher Khalil Mack to the Chicago media for the first time. Mack had just been the subject a blockbuster trade between the Bears and Oakland Raiders. One in which Pace gave up a large package of draft picks to acquire the former Defensive Player of the Year.
While Bears fans were utterly thrilled with the idea of adding Mack to the defense, one that already finished 2017 among the top 10. Some were concerned about the price they paid.
The Bears won't have either of their 1st round picks in 2019 and 2020. This has to give fans some bad memories of the Jay Cutler trade. That cost the team those same picks in 2009 and 2010. Those two drafts weren't terrible but failed to produce any blue chip players. The best they were able to do was Henry Melton and Johnny Knox.
One reason Pace feels somewhat more confident than those outside the building? For starters, he'll have two 2nd round picks available. Jerry Angelo had zero 10 years ago. The other is that Pace has had a good deal more success at finding quality talent in the later rounds of a draft. He even said one of his goals was adding a few more pieces in that regard during the trade.
As things stand the Bears will have 12 picks over the next two years, all of them in the 2nd round or later. Perhaps it's time to remind people about some of the work he's done in that window since taking over in 2015.
Notable players found by Ryan Pace in 2nd round or later:
- Eddie Goldman (2nd)
- Adrian Amos (5th)
- Cody Whitehair (2nd)
- Jordan Howard (5th)
- Eddie Jackson (4th)
- Tarik Cohen (4th)
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