Getty Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace
In his first time speaking with the media since the beginning of the 2019 season, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace addressed his team’s disappointing season.
After winning the NFC North in 2018 and making the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the Bears went 8-8 this season, placing third in the North, while their divisional rivals, the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, made the playoffs.
The majority of questions fielded by Pace pertained to starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, whom Pace infamously traded up to select in the 2017 NFL draft — ahead of Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Trubisky has had a season filled with ups and downs, and his regression at the quarterback position in 2019 has been well documented. While Pace said multiple times that Trubisky would be the team’s starting quarterback in 2020, based on Pace’s previous end-of-year pressers, there were also plenty of things he didn’t say that were quite revealing.
Ryan Pace Commits to Trubisky — But Not His Fifth-Year Option
Perhaps the most telling moment of Pace’s press conference came after he initially endorsed Trubisky as the starter in 2020. When asked if he would be picking up the fifth-year option in Trubisky’s contract, Pace remained non-committal. “We’re not at that point right now,” he said. “When we are, we’ll let you know.”
Ryan Pace doesn’t commit to picking up the 5th year option on Mitchell Trubisky. “We’re not at that point right now. When we are, we’ll let you know.”
Another thing to note here is that when the Bears’ season ended last year and Pace held the same annual year-end press conference, he didn’t hesitate when asked if he had plans to pick up the fifth-year option of Leonard Floyd. “I think with Leonard [Floyd], that’s a fair question. Our plan is to pick up that fifth-year option,” Pace said at the time. “He played well and we’re happy where he’s at.”
Pace kept his word and picked up Floyd’s fifth-year option, but it’s interesting he refused to do the same for Trubisky even though he just endorsed him as the starter next season. Many people think Pace’s assertion that Trubisky is the starter was Pace being diplomatic and professional — it’s not good decorum for NFL owners to throw their players under the bus.
What else would you expect Pace to say? NFL organizations rarely ever throw their own players under the bus. That would be an unprofessional way of going about things.
Another thing worthy of note is the way Pace has handled quarterback issues in the past. At the end of the 2017 season after the Bears signed quarterback Mike Glennon to a three-year, $45 million deal with $18.5 million guaranteed, Pace told reporters Glennon was his team’s starter. He then drafted Mitchell Trubisky in the first round of the draft a few months later, and Trubisky ended up starting four games into the 2017 season.
Windy City Gridiron’s Bill Zimmerman also noted that those assuming Trubisky is the set-in-stone option for the Bears next year are forgetting one important thing: Pace rarely says what he’s going to do publicly before he does it. “Pace never shows his hand,” Zimmerman said in a Tweet Tuesday afternoon.
The amount of #Bears100 fans and Chicago media that are treating a 30 minute press conference by Ryan Pace on Dec 31st as gospel that Mitch Trubisky is locked in as the starting QB 9 months from now is ridiculous. Relax and let this offseason play out. Pace never shows his hand.
Pace did say that he and Nagy would be looking at their options in regards to the quarterback room, noting the contracts of both the team’s backups, Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray, will expire at the end of this season.
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