That is what two Chicago Bears beat reporters recently told local sports talk station, 670 the Score.
Pro Football Weekly Executive Editor and long time Chicago Bears insider, Hub Arkush, told the Parkins & Spiegel show his sources say Pace is returning.
His sources did say Pace’s future role is yet to be determined.
Chicago Tribune Bears beat reporter, Brad Biggs said on Mully & Haugh, Pace coming back next season is possible.
“You get vastly different opinions when you talk to people who have been in or are right around the league and have been in those positions for a long time. I talked to a guy last night, who doesn’t work for the Bears and he is just reading the tea leaves but he is involved with coaches.
He said, ‘If you would have asked a month ago, he would have put Ryan Pace’s chances of staying somewhere around 55%’
He thinks those chances are considerably better now. Not based on anything they have done on the field but just based on his sort of reading of the situation.
Then you talk to other people and they are throwing out names like look for this guy to be the hot candidate, look for this guy to be in the mix, and for them, it is sort of fait accompli that the Bears are going to fire the GM and the coach.
I don’t know. I can’t imagine they are still trying to figure out specifically what they want to do. If that is the case at Halas Hall, then there is a bigger problem than certainly meets the surface when you are just looking at the roster and the record over the last couple of seasons.”
Biggs did say a potential three-game win streak to end the season will not save Matt Nagy as the decision to relieve him of head coaching duties after the season has been made. He believes the possible season-ending win streak will not factor into Pace staying or going.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora is usually not reliable on his Bears “insider” information but he also has reported Pace’s fate has not been decided.
General manager Ryan Pace could still survive the overhaul there, with him and team president Ted Phillips aligned, sources said. However, the McCaskey family is also considering making major changes to their hierarchy, sources said, that could potentially include someone else overseeing football operations and/or serving in that team president role. There are numerous opposing factions within that organization with change on the horizon, and various scenarios for the family to consider as they try to put together a contending team again.
The McCaskey family is once again considering keeping Pace in the organization because they like him personally and professionally according to Arkush.
“The McCaskey family is happy with him as a football executive, not just as a person.”
There is a serious debate about keeping a general manager who is 48-64 in seven seasons with one winning season and no playoff victories. Winning franchises would have shown Pace the door last season but not the Chicago Bears which is why they are currently a losing franchise.
Instead, Bears’ ownership focus on things like renovating a practice facility, likability, and good collaboration skills as keys to a successful general manager. They ignore a fundamental football principle-you are what your record says you are.