Ryan Pace's Greatest Free Agency Hits and Misses

Free Agent Frenzy 2020: Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace has brought in some real building blocks when he delved into free agency, and then he brought in some complete embarrassments

There's a reason general manager Ryan Pace and any personnel man will say teams must be built through the draft and not free agency.

It's let the buyer beware in free agency. It's someone else's problems coming to you and the repercussions of a failed signing could be millions and millions of dollars against the cap in the future.

In the draft, the cost is low and if a player fails you get other picks and draft even more.  

Plus, in the draft in theory you've got the players at their youngest age and can have them on the roster longer.

Pace has had his share of hits and his share of misses in free agency. By and large, he's probably done no worse than most GMs.

It's just that a few of the misses stuck out so much they've become almost legendary. There were enough of those that gems like Antrel Rolle couldn't make the list, after he bombed out on a three-year deal and then blamed the Bears' Halas Hall practice field for an injury.

Here are my rankings of the worst and best of Pace in free agency.

The Worst

1. Mike Glennon

Glennon ranks No. 1 as Pace's worst free agent signing. How do you give a guy that bad $18.5 million guaranteed and $43 million over five years and get four games from him?

Everyone crucifies Pace for his other quarterback move that year, trading up to draft Mitchell Trubisky. That move looks like the work of a genius compared to paying out all that money to someone who couldn't play at all.

At least Trubisky played well enough a year later to get a dominant defense into the playoffs and then put them in position to win the game. See the end of this list for what happened afterward.

2. Pernell McPhee

Signing a pass rusher who had a bit of a knee problem in the past and giving him a five-year, $38.75 million deal didn't work out. McPhee started having injury issues almost from the time he arrived in Chicago, particularly with his knee. A nice guy, beloved by teammates, but someone who seemed jinxed by the injury bug from before the time the Bears got him and Pace should have avoided that acquisition.

3. Dion Sims

The Bears needed an all-purpose tight end for the Dowell Loggains attack. Dion Sims provided it at a cost of $18 million with $10 million guaranteed over three years. For their money, they got 17 catches, 189 yards and a bunch of passes bouncing off of skillet hands. They were still counting his dead money against their cap last season.

4. Cody Parkey

It was tough enough when they signed him for four years and $15 million and he double-doinked their season to an end, but then when they cut him they had given him such a large amount of guaranteed money ($9 million) that they are still counting some of it against their cap this coming season. It's his own special little parting gift to go along with the most infamous play in Bears history since Rex Grossman threw a pass Kelvin Hayden intercepted near the sideline and returned 56 yards for a touchdown.

5. Markus Wheaton

This was almost a tossup with another receiver, Eddie Royal. At least after signing a three-year, $15 million deal with $10 million guaranteed Royal managed to catch 70 passes over two Bears seasons—even if he was supposed to be a deep threat and averaged about 137 inches per catch. The saving grace with Wheaton's deal was it went for only two years. But it was for 11 years and $6 million of it was guaranteed. Some analysts immediately called it the worst free agent contract of 2017. For their efforts, the Bears got three catches and 51 yards. But hey, that 17-yard average per catch was sparkling, you have to admit.

The Best

1. Akiem Hicks

They signed a man-mountain for $10 million over two years and he helped transform their defense, then they paid him $48 million for four more years and it still seems like he's underpaid.

2. Allen Robinson

Some people had doubts after he signed for three years and $42 million after having an ACL tear, but in this case the injury past didn't come back to bite the Bears. It was a clean ACL injury without complication and Robinson rehabbed and rested it, waiting until training camp to really get involved after injurying in the 2017 opener for Jacksonville. When he made only 55 catches for 754 yards in 2018 some skeptics still held to their belief the Bears wasted the money. A year later, after 98 catches for 1,147 yards, a Payton Award nomination, an Ed Block Courage Award and quite possibly a Piccolo Award, no one can have a doubt.

3. Danny Trevathan

It's easy to look at 18 games Trevathan couldn't play during his four-year deal for $28 million and say the Bears overpaid, but his value goes beyond statistics. The Bears defensively had effective players but no leader. Trevathan is a leader like few in the NFL. He is emotional, violent and fit Vic Fangio's defense perfectly. He was at his best defending the run, and it showed before last season when they had allowed almost 50 more yards rushing in the games he missed compared to those he played. If he leaves in free agency, it's definitely a blow.

4. Prince Amukamara

After they let him go, it's been suggested performance had something to do with the move. In truth, it could have something to do with it as his passer rating against ballooned last year and he didn't record an interception. Amukamara initially signed for $7 million on a one-year prove-it deal, then got three more years for $27 million. It was structured so they could afford to let him go, but while he was in Chicago he helped solidify the secondary. The Bears had been putting out sub-par cornerbacks on that side of the field and they were picked on, while Kyle Fuller was waging his own battle to get better on the other side. Fuller suddenly blossomed into a Pro Bowl cornerback and Amukamara was a rock on the other side, making it difficult for a quarterback to choose someone to go after.

5. Bobby Massie

Trey Burton no doubt would have made this list if he had a 2019 season only somewhat within striking distance of his 2018 year, but the missed playoff game and being unavailable to do much last year cost him a spot. Massie slid in here. His original three-year, $18 million deal with $6.5 million guaranteed in 2016 wasn't really overpaying for a starting tackle coming out of his first contract, and after he got the offense down he began to make a difference. Then the Bears gave him a five-year, $40 million deal with $15.8 million guaranteed, but the structure of that deal helped because it let them borrow against it to pay for other free agents or their own free agents. He struggled last year with health but had usually been dependable and available prior to last year.

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