Bears general manager Ryan Pace met with Chicago media on Wednesday morning, the first full day of activities at the NFL scouting combine. Pace, with new head coach Matt Nagy in tow, has a lot to accomplish in the weeks ahead as the team’s roster overhaul continues first with free agency and later with the draft. With that in mind, the GM fielded a wide array of questions on Wednesday morning.
Here are some highlights from that session.
On the status of cornerback Kyle Fuller, whose rookie contract expires in March and whether the Bears will use the franchise tag to keep Fuller
We’re still evaluating that right now, obviously we like Kyle and he had a good season and we’re happy with the way he’s progressed. But those are things that are on the table, we’re still evaluating the process. We have some time.
On his early working relationship with new head coach Matt Nagy
He’s extremely passionate about this. The collaboration is very natural for us. He’s highly intelligent, but he’s also very humble with that, which I think is a real attractive trait.
On how he would describe Nagy’s fresh voice
Matt’s naturally a very energetic person. He’s also very creative, with an outside-the-box thought process, which is nice.
On what he’s learned about Nagy
As we learn more and more about his philosophy, especially on offense and what he wants to do, it’s getting our scouts on the same page with that vision and what fits. But one of the attractive things about Matt is his flexibility. So it’s really a ‘Hey, this is what this player does best, let’s put him in position to maximize that.’
On whether releasing a bunch of previous free-agent signees will change the Bears’ approach in free agency
I think there’s always risk in free agency. We talked about that. A lot of times guys become free agents for a reason and we’re mindful of that. And I think as we continue to build our roster more and more through the draft, maybe we won’t have to supplement as much in free agency. But we have to be mindful of that. It is risky. We’ve done a good job of structuring the contract where we can get out of some of these. But it’s kind of treacherous waters and we have to be careful as we go through this. I think having familiarity with some of these players – we have coaches form multiple other teams. Even in the draft, we now have college coaches on our staff that have background with some of these players. I think that helps the process.
On the combination of Nagy, Mark Helfrich and Dave Ragone as tutors to Mitch Trubisky
I think you just surround your quarterback, who’s your most valuable asset, with a lot of good resources. We feel like we’ve done that, definitely with the coaching staff,. And they all bring a different perspective to the table. It’s cool to walk into the offensive meeting room and see them collaborating and bouncing ideas off each other. It’s definitely that kind of relationship. So it’ll be interesting to see that play out. It’s definitely a creative offense.
On Brad Childress’ role as a consultant
I think as we get into this ramp up phase of this offense, Matt doesn’t have really a lot of guys from Kansas City. Matt did a good job of bringing guys in really from all different areas. And really all around the league and college football. So with Brad it’s, hey, here’s a guy who has some background in this offense. So when Matt’s pulled out of those meetings with other head coaching obligations they can keep rolling with Childress in there.
On discussions with Fuller’s camp
Those conversations are constantly ongoing. The dialogue has been pretty aggressive and we’ll see how it plays out.
On the loss of all four elected offensive and defensive captains from last season and where that leaves the Bears as far as leadership
It’s a young team. I feel like there are a lot of guys in the locker room who are kind of ready for that role. I think that has to organically happen as we go through this process. But this is a young team and I think those guys will naturally emerge as we go forward.
On who in particular he looks toward for leadership
I just think it has to play out. It has to play out as we go through the offseason and as we go through training camp and into the preseason.
On his reaction to Alshon Jeffery’s success with the Eagles and whether that situation will impact the way he assesses Fuller’s situation
I think as we’ve gone through the last three years, there are a lot of roster turnover. There’s a lot of players who we’ve moved on from, players we’ve added. And that’s just part of the life we’re in. I’m happy for Alshon. I’m proud of Alshon. When those negotiations are going on, there are a lot of factors involved as you know. But I don’t think it affects how we handle Fuller or anything like that going forward.
Twitter @danwiederer
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