Hub Arkush: Bears front office didn't fail, it just kept running in place
First in a series
It's time for the haters to stop trying to get Ryan Pace fired just for trading up and drafting Mitch Trubisky.
Yes, it was an awful decision. But no general can be accurately or fairly evaluated by a single personnel move no matter how good or bad it proves to be.
Pace inherited one of the worst messes in the NFL in 2015. Over his first three years with John Fox, he rebuilt the nucleus of his roster while losing a lot of football games. The Bears went 14-34 to be exact.
Since replacing Fox with Matt Nagy, the Bears have shown significant improvement, going 28-20 and 0-2 in the playoffs.
Clearly George McCaskey made his decision to retain the current front office based on its entire body of work, but in the NFL's "What have you done for me lately culture?," what did Pace and company do in 2020?
Positives: Early returns on the 2020 draft are extremely promising. It could prove to be Pace's best.
Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson and Darnell Mooney look like long-term starters at their positions and each has shown flashes of star power.
Kindle Vildor could eventually start as well and Trevis Gipson and Artavis Pierce showed just enough to suggest they may belong in the league, too.
Free agent Jimmy Graham proved to be a better addition than most expected, and Tashaun Gipson was an excellent get.
Cairo Santos was a key addition, and lesser acquisitions Barkevious Mingo and Mario Edwards Jr. made big contributions.
Not picking up the fifth year on Trubisky's contract was clearly the right move.
Negatives: The Nick Foles trade paid no dividends, and the Bears will be without a fourth-round pick this year as a result.
Not getting a contract extension done with Allen Robinson before he had a 100-catch, 1,200-yard season was a huge mistake no matter how complicated circumstances surrounding it were.
It's too early to put a final grade on the Robert Quinn signing, but he did far too little this season for the $30 million he was guaranteed.
Pace's failing to correctly evaluate his overall offensive line talent - particularly the lack of talent at left tackle - and doing nothing to improve it cost the team dearly.
Defining moment: The Bears gave away the second Lions game in the final moments - after playing one of their best offensive games - for no reason other than they weren't good enough up front, with Charles Leno and Germain Ifedi as the main culprits.
Contract status: There are serious cap issues going into the 2021 season, but it's because of the impact of the pandemic, not front office decisions.
Possible cap casualties include Leno, Bobby Massie, Anthony Miller and Buster Skrine, and there are difficult decisions to make on Graham and Danny Trevathan.
Key free agents in addition to Robinson are Gipson, Cordarrelle Patterson, Edwards Jr., Brent Urban, Mingo, Patrick O'Donnell, Santos, Roy Robertson-Harris and Deon Bush.
Hub's grade: B-. This would be a C+ but the pandemic made the jobs of every person in the league five, maybe even 10 times as hard.
This front office's team made the playoffs. They were the seventh best team in the NFC by the same rules everybody else played by and that's better than average. But it's only a B-/C+ because they barely backed into the playoffs and weren't any better than they were the season before.
Hub's plan: Keep as much of this group intact one more year because they have the talent to be a top five defense.
With limited cap space, they have to target Robinson and should also focus on Patterson, Gipson, Santos, O'Donnell and Edwards Jr. for re-signings.
If the cap allows, a run at offensive tackles Cam Robinson or Trent Williams should be considered. If Trubisky isn't re-signed, they should target either Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Fitzpatrick or Andy Dalton to compete with or back up Foles and draft the best available developmental QB on day two.
Draft priorities should be tackle, quarterback, wide receiver, safety, inside linebacker, pass rush and running back.
If Foles or a new veteran is the starter in '21, Nagy should go back to trying to prove he can win with his offense. If the Bears don't win at least nine games and one playoff game with a much improved offense, a GM change should take place.
• Twitter: @Hub_Arkush