NEWSLETTER
Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace speaks so infrequently, that it’s newsworthy when he says anything of substance — even if it’s in a brief snippet moments before a game.
Pace spoke with Bears play-by-play voice Jeff Joniak before today’s kickoff. And in what might be his last game running Chicago’s football team, Pace addressed a handful of notable topics, which was transcribed at the Bears’ official web site.
Here are some key excerpts, along with some commentary.
ON SPECULATION SURROUNDING HIS FUTURE WITH THE TEAM
“That’s the industry we’re in. It’s sports in general. I love the passion of our fan base. But our job is to focus on the continued process of building our team, and we feel good about the trajectory that we’re on.”
It’s not necessarily a quote of consequence, but I can appreciate Pace trying to spin something positive at the end of what’s been a mostly dreary season.
SELLING THE FUTURE
“We have good flexibility with our cap going forward. We’ll continue to stack strong draft classes and just continue to add to that core, and that’s the blueprint.”
I’m unsure if Pace is selling this on his own behalf, or if he is unknowingly serving up a pitch to his future replacement. In either case, Pace isn’t wrong when discussing the Bears’ cap situation. The Bears currently project to have $40,935,664 in cap space, per OverTheCap’s calculations. That would be the 12th most available cap room in the NFL. And that’s *BEFORE* cap casualties and other moves clear space.
Then again, I’m uneasy with how comfortable Pace is in saying “we’ll continue” when his contract expires at season’s end.
ON THE TEAM’S DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR JUSTIN FIELDS
I like the quarterback environment that he was in as a rookie; the coaches around him, but I think [is] really significant is the two veteran, accomplished players around him in Andy Dalton and Nick Foles by his side. You’re always going to be yourself as a player, but I think he picked up different things from their games, and just with the preparation habits and study habits, and those things will help him long term.
It is interesting how, when addressing a question about Fields, Pace finds a way to jump to talk about the two veteran quarterbacks in the room. This framing makes it feel like Pace is trying to drop a hint reminding folks that, if this Fields thing takes off, he was the one who brought in two wily vets who were helpful in being a guiding light.
Admittedly, none of Pace’s comments do much in terms of bringing clarity to a muddy situation. But at least Pace addressed it in some way, rather than just letting it linger.
