So you are asking if we think he was conning the NFL? The ONLY reason (other than he is a complete moron) that kinda makes sense is that he was actually playing the long con to get Trubisky. But again, it begs the question, why not just keep Hoyer? Well, the answer would be that everyone would know Hoyer was not the long-term option for the Bears. And that would mean Trubisky was in play for the Bears. So, that kinda explains why we paid him 18 million. And it kinda explains why Pace came out and called him the starter - something NO GM should EVER do. So... You then have to wonder why he had to play the long game WITH GLENNON. Well... He was a commodity. At least 2 teams wanted him. He was also kind of an unknown. He played crappy and looked crappy with Tampa. But he also had a decent game or 2 here and there that was alright. So, maybe some GM's (Cleveland, SF) thought Pace was so bad that he'd actually start him and let it play out. And then if he didn't, we'd go for a starter next year. If Pace actually conned the NFL, I give him props. I tend to think he hoped Glennon would pan out and we'd have a situation where we had to chose between two solid QB's. He'd then trade Glennon for a pick or 2.
Wait, who else was interested in Glennon? I don't remember anyone being in contention for that signing.
All an interesting read, but nothing but the last two sentences hold any real truth imo. - There was no long con, Pace was just actually that dumb. Not as exciting re explanations, but way more realistic. - Whether Pace thought Glennon was the long term option or not, that has no bearing on the 18mil price tag. You're worth what the market says you're worth. Glennon's market was no where near 18mil. Pace overpaid by at least $8mil, my estimate. - Pace named Glennon the starter in April to placate Glennon, who thought he was the sole plan, had no idea the Bears would draft a QB that high, and wasn't at all happy about it. Guess Pace didn't fill Glennon in on his actual approach, which was to take two shots at finding a franchise QB. Now, yes, Pace prob did kinda back himself into a corner re the starter spot cos he so overpaid Glennon. So that was prob a factor too i suppose. Also a factor in taking so long for Glennon to get the hook. - Glennon was not a commodity. There were not 2 other teams interested in him. It was reported from multiple very connected, accurate, non-La Canfora sources that the Bears were bidding against themselves for Glennon pretty much the entire time. - Pace didn't con the NFL. This is a guy who gets owned in every trade he makes, he's just nowhere near this smart. But Pace did con someone. Ernie Accosi, Sweaty Teddy and the muppets who are ownership into giving him a job. The true explanation, in my humble opinion, is pretty simple. Pace knew he needed to sort the QB position, it was crunch time and he made the decision to increase his odds by having two bites at the cherry. Fine in theory, but there was no QB in FA worth the money or commitment. The only inexplicable things to me were how Pace thought Glennon could be a franchise QB or worth that money? Glennon didn't play this bad in Tampa, that should be noted. But he wasn't good. There was nothing there that said this guy was a future franchise QB, and the rest of the league knew that. Pace was the only guy that didn't. And there was just no reason to pay Glennon that much money except that it was the result of terrible GM work. The Bucs reportedly had an 8mil offer on the table. That was what Pace was competing with. I tend to think he hoped Glennon would pan out and we'd have a situation where we had to chose between two solid QB's. He'd then trade Glennon for a pick or 2. Yes. It still doesn't explain overpaying Glennon by 8-10 million dollars, but the best case scenario of having 2 QB's who looked great and getting a trade deal for one of em.... was never gonna be an option with say a Hoyer. But it looks ridiculous now given what a suckfest Glennon has been.
Pace may not have thought Glennon would suck this bad but he did prepare for it. If Pace’s biggest fuckup is wasting $18 mill on a bridge QB I can live with that. As long as the bridge leads to the promise land. To put that in perspective the Texans wasted $21 million on Brock. Then had to waste their first and second round picks in next years draft to make up for the blunder. And nobody will care if Watson is the real deal. The Broncos who got lucky that The Texans out bid them for Brock wasted a draft pick to trade up for Paxton Lynch. Patriots just wasted $31 million on a DB all of us beat up Pace for not signing. Im not saying Pace is a mastermind. But we could do a lot worse.
Slow down the revisionist stuff, there, Rob. First, if Trubisky ends up being the man, I think we'll all be happy. That said: If Pace was planning on drafting a QB, he didn't need to pay someone $15 million a year to play a season that wasn't going to go well, anyway. He could've paid another, contributing player. It would be nice to have some other depth on this roster, to have NFL-caliber WR's, to have a secondary that knows its ass from a hole in the ground, maybe another reliable LB... But instead, we have a waste of a player and roster spot in Mike Glennon. And, anyone who did, indeed, know their ass from a hole in the ground knew that Glennon was garbage and a waste of time/money - there's a reason we were the only suitors for his time, including the team that happily let him walk off their roster. I'd much rather have any other QB that we paid a normal amount of money, and any rookie QB they would've attempted to draft, rather than paying Glennon franchise QB money, and not using that money to improve other positions on the team. Pace thought Glennon was a worthy QB and a worthy use of that money. He was wrong. And, both by the results afterward and by anyone who would talk any sense prior to the move, he was heinously wrong. "Nobody will care if Watson is the real deal". Not a chance in hell. That'll go down in record books, being talked about for ages. You don't get to band-aid over making a massive fuck-up by then saying, "Yeah, but the next time turned out fine". You still fucked up. You could've spent that money and those draft picks on contributing players, and still ended up with the same QB. Imagine the Texans with another, say, three meaningfully contributing players on the roster - that's a better team. Are they glad they ended up with Watson? For now (remember, QB's have long life spans - everyone proclaiming Goff a bust and Wentz a future star last year are a lot quieter, now. This is coming from someone who wanted Watson). But they'd have been a lot happier with an extra playmaker on the field, in addition. The Broncos were willing to give Osweiller the kind of money you give to a potential starter, not more. He wasn't going to be handed the job, he was going to compete (a novel concept), and they were going to pay him like someone that might end up on the bench as much as in the starting lineup (again, crazy). The Texans were willing to throw mad cash at him, because in today's game, QB's are a rare and valuable commodity, and they were a QB away from being legitimate contenders. If the Broncos had signed him, it wouldn't have been for stupid money, and Trevor Siemian still would've been there to compete with him. And, hey, they wouldn't have thrown away a top pick on Lynch! Well, holy shit! Let's wait more than 4 games before we call Gilmore a waste of money. Hell, even in comparing this year's play, all of our secondary players are wastes of money, then. And I'd rather spend money on a player that has been good and plays surprisingly poorly (I'm assuming - I haven't watched more than a few plays of Gilmore this year to give an objective opinion), than spending money on a player who has never been good, and that nobody assumed would be good (except Pace). I'm not saying Pace hasn't done some good things. But this team is worse than it was before he got here, it hasn't improved at all during the time that he's been here, and besides a QB that we're all hopeful for, what else is there that's keeping anyone even watching the games? A GM shouldn't be forgiven for mistakes because they've done some good things, especially when the majority is in the 'mistakes' column, rather than the 'good things' column. And I'm not saying that a GM has to be perfect, nor are situations usually presenting perfect circumstances, but again - when you're wrong more often than you are right, and wrong in a way that is sometimes monumental... that's a problem. And I'm not willing to give him a pass because someone else might also be bad at the job.
Even if Trubisky is the man.....the picks we gave up to get him cost something somewhere down the line. Pace's job is to field a winning team...not just find a QB. If the Bears don't win a Superbowl during his tenure...Pace failed. One really good move doesn't erase the bad ones just like one really bad move doesn't erase the good ones.
We can agree that the Glennon signing was bad. We will have to disagree with just how bad it was. Please show me some proof that nobody else wanted Glennon. All we do know is that nobody wanted to pay him more than Pace did. The argument that Glennons contract prohibited Pace from signing others that could contribute is flawed. The roster spot that Glennon takes up was going to go to a QB regardless. A QB that would only be keeping the seat warm for the second pick in the draft. Glennons contract in no way shape or form prevented Pace from pursuing any other FA’s. If you could please explain to me what harm Glennons contract has done to the team other than looking bad I’ll listen. The Broncos offered Brock a 4 year deal averaging $16 mill a year with over $30 million guaranteed. That’s potential starter money and the $18 mill Glennon got is franchise QB money? I am not asking anybody to give Pace a pass. I am asking to be a little more sensible in your critique.
I agree with you guys he thought he was taking a swing on the chance Glennon was good. He's so far from good that Pace deserves lumps for that. However, I do not think he ever thought Glennon was a sure fire deal like the pressers might have you believe. It's his job to spew effusive praise in those, and this is where I agree with the above. Being on the bigrobo side of the argument hurts, so I am going to backpedal just a touch though, heh. I think Mongo's on point that Pace was hoping he'd have a good QB in Glennon which he could trade, and Trubsiky would be the bonafide starter. Now I just hope to hell Trubisky is everything we hope, and that Pace can learn from a mistake like Glennon. I do have this sickly feeling Pace is in over his head, and will leave us with a half built team. But he has made some good moves, so it's not all doom and gloom. Honestly, Pace's future may well rest with the next HC he hires as the most important thing. If he keeps Fox, he will go down with him. If he hits one out of the park (like imagine if we had gotten Arians, for example, gee, that would have been nice), someone that can make the most out of the half bag they're given, this team could be good. If I were a betting man on this though, I wouldn't bet on Pace. It's all hope.
The NFL is so bad right now. Been watching redzone this afternoon and this league has at least 20 teams who are just bad. Bad in the sense that they can't get out of their own way, stupid penalties, stupid turnovers, LOTS of stupid players, terrible fundamentals on both sides of the ball. It's not fun to watch any of these teams. I always like it when there are one or two really good - great teams to carry the league through a season, so far this year there are clearly none. Even the good teams look shitty at least half the time (e.g. Packers, Steelers, Pats, Seahawks). It's funny because we talk so much about how tough our schedule is. I call BS. The problem is we suck REAL bad, but most of the teams we are playing suck, but a little less badly than us. Trust me, every goddamn game on our schedule is winnable if we figure out a way to suck less than our opponent. That's the key to being .500 or a little better in this godforsaken league.
Yep. And for Exhibit A i give you the garbage factory that is the Detroit Lions. Without a doubt the most flattered, overrated team in the league this last year and a bit. 9-4 a one point last year and 3-1 currently, and yet they are nothing more than a deeply average team. At best. Says it all. As i type btw the Lions have just moved to 3-2 after losing to the Panthers. But the Panthers utterly stunk in that 4thQ, they did their best to let the Lions back in, letting a 17point lead with 7mins left dwindle to 3point squeaker. Which only serves to illustrate your point further blang.
The power ranking at the beginning of the season had the Lions at #12 which I thought was way too fucking high and should of been closer to the Vikings, but then there was the Steelers that were #5 and the Bears and then today the Jags dispatched them quite easily. It comes down to one thing execution, the one thing I noticed in the Panthers game that must of been preached is ball security, and maintaining both hands on the football especially when going over the middle. Hell the Giants were #7 and they still haven't put up a win and Giants lost their 4th WR because Beckham went out today with an ankle. Blang is right there is so little separating the top from the bottom that detail to execution is the difference maker in many of these games and anything is winnable. If Trubisky perform at a somewhat level greater than noodle neck anything is possible. Go Bears!
I'm sticking by my prediction that we probably aren't winning until the 49ers game. This week is our best chance and we're 7 point dogs.... The Ravens had a much better game last week than the previous 2. We've never won in Baltimore, so, I am not even as optimistic as vegas.
