Bears 2019/20; George McCaskey is on the clock

[superdave]

You know things are bad when your brother-in-law, a devout Lions fan, messages you WTH about Andy Dalton

Pace is nothing but predictable. He doubles up on FA and the draft at big positions of need. Glennon/Trubisky, Sims/Shaheen, Graham/Kmet... so since we just signed Dalton and Ifedi, expect the Bears to draft a QB and OT. Pace even attended Trey Lance's pro day, if he falls on draft day we may see a move up.

[Payt10]

Wait until these guys draft Kyle Trask with the 20th overall pick in a few weeks. You know that is where they're going. A guy who isn't an NFL talent is going to be drafted by the Bears in the 1st round because of desperation. It would be the ultimate nightmare scenario after already experiencing the worst possible quarterback addition you could have made after flirting with Russell Wilson.

The funniest part about this whole situation is that I never once thought either Watson or Wilson were getting traded, but to go out and panic-sign a quarterback who is not any better than the guys you have now—AND you needlessly sign him for MORE money than he made last year despite being terrible for a Cowboys team loaded with weapons—says everything you need to know about Ryan Pace.

Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton... Embarrassing....

They're going to be lucky to win 4 games next year. If this were a video game, you'd hit the "simulate season" button.

[otwok]

Wait until these guys draft Kyle Trask with the 20th overall pick in a few weeks. You know that is where they're going. A guy who isn't an NFL talent is going to be drafted by the Bears in the 1st round because of desperation. It would be the ultimate nightmare scenario after already experiencing the worst possible quarterback addition you could have made after flirting with Russell Wilson.

The funniest part about this whole situation is that I never once thought either Watson or Wilson were getting traded, but to go out and panic-sign a quarterback who is not any better than the guys you have now—AND you needlessly sign him for MORE money than he made last year despite being terrible for a Cowboys team loaded with weapons—says everything you need to know about Ryan Pace.

Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton... Embarrassing....

They're going to be lucky to win 4 games next year. If this were a video game, you'd hit the "simulate season" button.

I actually think that winning 4 games or less is not a bad scenario. Get a high draft pick, draft a legit QB. But knowing this team they'll be something like 3-10 only to win their next three games. Talk about momentum, drop their draft pick, bring back Pace and Nagy on the fact that we did so well the last 3 games when the guys in the locker room could have quit but they fought till the end.

[Dresden]

Bottom line is that it doesn't matter to the McCaskeys.

I find it hard to believe that any owners don't care whether their team wins or loses, or if they are loved by the fan base or hated. I think it's quite possible they are just incompetent owners, and are out of touch and clueless as to how to turn things around.

[Jeffster81]

Bottom line is that it doesn't matter to the McCaskeys.

I find it hard to believe that any owners don't care whether their team wins or loses, or if they are loved by the fan base or hated. I think it's quite possible they are just incompetent owners, and are out of touch and clueless as to how to turn things around.

Story of the life of a Chicago sports fan.

[dougthonus]

Bottom line is that it doesn't matter to the McCaskeys.

I find it hard to believe that any owners don't care whether their team wins or loses, or if they are loved by the fan base or hated. I think it's quite possible they are just incompetent owners, and are out of touch and clueless as to how to turn things around.

If you ever met someone involved with a team at a professional level and had a real conversation with them, you'd be embarrassed for ever quoting the "they don't care" thing that fans sometimes do. I've met lots of execs over the years, and they are all fanatical about how much they care about their jobs and effort they put in.

The other thing I'll say is that there isn't some magical approach to turn things around in para-mutual endeavors like pro-sports. One teams victory is another defeat. There is a lot of skill but a lot of luck involved. Being in the NFL without a stud QB is like being in the NBA without a superstar, your ceiling is capped, and there is no obvious, repeatable method to get a stud QB, because even if you draft 1st every year, in most years, there isn't an obvious one in the draft. You just have to get lucky. Even the "obvious" ones often end up being only average.

This isn't to say what the Bears are doing is good or great or anything whatsoever (same with the Bulls, Cubs, Sox, or any other team), it's just to say that people generally vastly underestimate the amount of pure dumb luck winning in sports has. There's a reason why you don't see great coaches/GMs from one org move to another and then build it from the ground up successfully over and over again and why teams don't just pay 50 million to get that coach or GM (because if the Hornets believed they could pay Pat Riley 50M and get a title, they sure as hell would do so).

All this is neither here nor there, you still make judgments on your coach/GM talent and move on or not based on how you think they are doing, but all of these guys are generally both extremely competent and care deeply. There are exceptions to that of course, Boylen seems to have been one with the Bulls. While I'm not in love with Pace at all and have my qualms with Nagy, I believe both meet the bar of caring/competent. Still might move on from either, sometimes you need a change, but I don't think either of these guys are straight terrible.

[fleet]

The chicago bears are officially fired as my football team. F*** george mcaskey. 35 years of suck, i'm out.

The guessing here is that there was a line that George drew in the sand. He wasn’t as unlimited as it is being reported. So the old man is at least somewhat reasonable in that case imo.

Maybe he is down with trading up, which I hope

[MalagaBulls]

Read on Twitter

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Wait until these guys draft Kyle Trask with the 20th overall pick in a few weeks. You know that is where they're going. A guy who isn't an NFL talent is going to be drafted by the Bears in the 1st round because of desperation. It would be the ultimate nightmare scenario after already experiencing the worst possible quarterback addition you could have made after flirting with Russell Wilson.

The funniest part about this whole situation is that I never once thought either Watson or Wilson were getting traded, but to go out and panic-sign a quarterback who is not any better than the guys you have now—AND you needlessly sign him for MORE money than he made last year despite being terrible for a Cowboys team loaded with weapons—says everything you need to know about Ryan Pace.

Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton... Embarrassing....

They're going to be lucky to win 4 games next year. If this were a video game, you'd hit the "simulate season" button.

One of the more underrated failures of Pace is his horrid negotiating tactics. Last year, he gave a whopping deal to Jimmy Graham after the Packers dumped him. And now this. Does he know he should be negotiating to lower the cost of incoming free agents? Someone should tap him on the shoulder during these meetings and let him know.

[Dresden]

Wait until these guys draft Kyle Trask with the 20th overall pick in a few weeks. You know that is where they're going. A guy who isn't an NFL talent is going to be drafted by the Bears in the 1st round because of desperation. It would be the ultimate nightmare scenario after already experiencing the worst possible quarterback addition you could have made after flirting with Russell Wilson.

The funniest part about this whole situation is that I never once thought either Watson or Wilson were getting traded, but to go out and panic-sign a quarterback who is not any better than the guys you have now—AND you ne
edlessly sign him for MORE money than he made last year despite being terrible for a Cowboys team loaded with weapons—says everything you need to know about Ryan Pace.

Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton... Embarrassing....

They're going to be lucky to win 4 games next year. If this were a video game, you'd hit the "simulate season" button.

They paid the going rate for a QB, and they are betting Dalton will be a step up from Foles/Mitch. And in any case, it's likely they aren't going to re-sign Mitch, so needed another QB.

[Dresden]

Bottom line is that it doesn't matter to the McCaskeys.

I find it hard to believe that any owners don't care whether their team wins or loses, or if they are loved by the fan base or hated. I think it's quite possible they are just incompetent owners, and are out of touch and clueless as to how to turn things around.

If you ever met someone involved with a team at a professional level and had a real conversation with them, you'd be embarrassed for ever quoting the "they don't care" thing that fans sometimes do. I've met lots of execs over the years, and they are all fanatical about how much they care about their jobs and effort they put in.

The other thing I'll say is that there isn't some magical approach to turn things around in para-mutual endeavors like pro-sports. One teams victory is another defeat. There is a lot of skill but a lot of luck involved. Being in the NFL without a stud QB is like being in the NBA without a superstar, your ceiling is capped, and there is no obvious, repeatable method to get a stud QB, because even if you draft 1st every year, in most years, there isn't an obvious one in the draft. You just have to get lucky. Even the "obvious" ones often end up being only average.

This isn't to say what the Bears are doing is good or great or anything whatsoever (same with the Bulls, Cubs, Sox, or any other team), it's just to say that people generally vastly underestimate the amount of pure dumb luck winning in sports has. There's a reason why you don't see great coaches/GMs from one org move to another and then build it from the ground up successfully over and over again and why teams don't just pay 50 million to get that coach or GM (because if the Hornets believed they could pay Pat Riley 50M and get a title, they sure as hell would do so).

All this is neither here nor there, you still make judgments on your coach/GM talent and move on or not based on how you think they are doing, but all of these guys are generally both extremely competent and care deeply. There are exceptions to that of course, Boylen seems to have been one with the Bulls. While I'm not in love with Pace at all and have my qualms with Nagy, I believe both meet the bar of caring/competent. Still might move on from either, sometimes you need a change, but I don't think either of these guys are straight terrible.

That being said, I do think some GM's/owners are better than others, which is stating the obvious. Theo Epstein brought a winner to both Boston and CHI. The ownership group of the Celtics (or part of it) went from creating a title team there, to doing the same thing with the Warriors. I think Belichek would probably be another, and I would put Pat Riley in that group of guys that do seem to know, as much as anyone can, a winning formula.

The '86 Bears were built largely by Jim Finks, but it was Michael McCaskey who brought a new kind of thinking to the org at that time, IMO, and they won it all not long after. With the Bears, I think they could just use some new decision makers at the highest levels. When you've gone 35 years without a championship, with mainly the same people in charge, you have to start thinking it's time for a change.

[fleet]

Wait until these guys draft Kyle Trask with the 20th overall pick in a few weeks. You know that is where they're going. A guy who isn't an NFL talent is going to be drafted by the Bears in the 1st round because of desperation. It would be the ultimate nightmare scenario after already experiencing the worst possible quarterback addition you could have made after flirting with Russell Wilson.

The funniest part about this whole situation is that I never once thought either Watson or Wilson were getting traded, but to go out and panic-sign a quarterback who is not any better than the guys you have now—AND you ne
edlessly sign him for MORE money than he made last year despite being terrible for a Cowboys team loaded with weapons—says everything you need to know about Ryan Pace.

Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton... Embarrassing....

They're going to be lucky to win 4 games next year. If this were a video game, you'd hit the "simulate season" button.

They paid the going rate for a QB, and they are betting Dalton will be a step up from Foles/Mitch. And in any case, it's likely they aren't going to re-sign Mitch, so needed another QB.

There’s only so much they can do after making such a key mistake. Fans want them to just paper over it in a dramatic and desperate way, and make it all ok, its not that easy. All they can really do is put their nose back to the grindstone and build holistically. McCaskey has compounded the situation with all this time constraint pressure to fix it. I wish they had cleaned house and got this all behind them.

[Susan]

I'm happy if they get Minshew. Don't trade up for a QB and give up our future assets for a QB who's not ready to win now.

Those guys should ONLY be able to trade future firsts for a future HOF QB. Our worst case scenario is trading up for a bust, firing everybody and not having that first next year.

Dalton/Minshew is clearly not Russ but I think Minshew is worth a flyer. Say you win 8-9 games with him, his value goes up and you call Seattle next year again.

[bearadonisdna]

resign mitch, trade foles, its an actually an upgrade to last year.

use cap to shore up protection.

my fear above all else, is we lose the run game which catapulted with mitch being reinstalled.
mitch had a 93 passer rating on the season.
bears need to rethink this.

[nitetrain8603]

Andy Dalton? And he is significantly better than Nick Foles how?

As I said earlier in this thread, the Bears are screwed and that starts with the QB situation. Media and fans assume that Pace/Nagy must win in 2021. Their QB situation paired with their cap situation makes this improbable at best. My hope is that they don't get stupid desperate. Desperation is fine for players who find their backs against the wall in a game. Desperation is really a bad thing for those who need to be looking at the long-term health of the organization. Chess not checkers, guys. Pace needs to be straight with his management, establish reasonable expectations and then be smart in his decisions.

I think Andy Dalton is better than Mitch. He's a smarter overall QB. Long in the tooth. Is he worth spending 10 million on when the Cowboys paid him 3 mil last year? Heck no.

That was an awful job by Pace.

[nitetrain8603]

Wait until these guys draft Kyle Trask with the 20th overall pick in a few weeks. You know that is where they're going. A guy who isn't an NFL talent is going to be drafted by the Bears in the 1st round because of desperation. It would be the ultimate nightmare scenario after already experiencing the worst possible quarterback addition you could have made after flirting with Russell Wilson.

The funniest part about this whole situation is that I never once thought either Watson or Wilson were getting traded, but to go out and panic-sign a quarterback who is not any better than the guys you have now—AND you needlessly sign him for MORE money than he made last year despite being terrible for a Cowboys team loaded with weapons—says everything you need to know about Ryan Pace.

Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton... Embarrassing....

They're going to be lucky to win 4 games next year. If this were a video game, you'd hit the "simulate season" button.

One of the more underrated failures of Pace is his horrid negotiating tactics. Last year, he gave a whopping deal to Jimmy Graham after the Packers dumped him. And now this. Does he know he should be negotiating to lower the cost of incoming free agents? Someone should tap him on the shoulder during these meetings and let him know.

Yeah that's the biggest takeaway. From reading up about how he bid against himself when he took Trubisky, to Graham's deal, to Quinn's deal, to now Dalton's deal. It's clear he does not know how to negotiate whatsoever. And that's horrific to think.

[bad knees]

edit

[IliketheBullsNBearstoo]

So Mack and Hicks were included in the offer for Wilson? Well I guess the hope was that we outscored teams because our D would have been back to square one.

[Betta Bulleavit]

So Mack and Hicks were included in the offer for Wilson? Well I guess the hope was that we outscored teams because our D would have been back to square one.

Where did you hear that?

[patryk7754]

It was probably Fuller and Miller that were offered.