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Two months ago, Ryan Pace showed his inexperience and he, and the Chicago Bears organization, were quickly burned by it.
Defensive end Ray McDonald, who the Bears signed because they were in desperate need of 3-4 defensive ends, was arrested again on domestic violence charges. This marks the third time McDonald has been involved in an off-the-field incident in less than a year, including two domestic violence charges and the third an accusation of sexual assault.
The Bears acted quickly and released McDonald, but it was far too late. Pace showed that he was green and didn’t see the inherit risk in signing such a troubled player. The GM has now embarrassed the organization with this decision, and now the Bears are backpedaling and removing egg from their face for a signing that wasn’t worth it from day one.
McDonald is a good player, but he is far from great. He would have improved the Bears defensive line, but not by a significant margin. Any fan could see that the risk far outweighed the reward in this situation. Now a franchise that prides itself on being a classy organization on the field has a serious stain off it.
Chairman George McCaskey vetoed the signing originally based on McDonald’s “pattern of poor decision-making,” refusing to sign someone with such character issues. But after persuading from both Pace and McDonald himself, McCaskey changed his mind and opened the doors to Halas Hall. McCaskey’s instincts were right, and he should have dug his heels in rather than acquiesce to this request.
The Bears made the right (and obvious) move to release McDonald immediately, as they are trying to move on from this. Pace released a statement saying that McDonald didn’t live up to the expectations of being a Chicago Bear, but what Pace should have, and did not, acknowledge is that the organization made a mistake. Pace put all error on McDonald’s behavior and none on the organization’s lack of judgment. The Bears’ new regime put winning above all else and failed to realize that character and trust is something earned — something this group has not yet done.
A questionable decision like this opens the organization up to further criticisms. Vic Fangio vouched for his character, so what does that say about Fangio’s? What does it say about Pace, who pleaded with ownership to sign McDonald? What must fans think about new coach John Fox‘s leadership after he sat quietly by as this signing occurred?
Now this regime enters their first year behind the eight ball. They are now under scrutiny from both the local and national media. Many fans are disappointed in the franchise and even members of the current roster clearly questioned the move. After McDonald was released, offensive lineman Kyle Long tweeted, “Good riddance.”
The Bears now start OTAs and their first season working to earn back the trust of the fanbase. They need to prove that they have learned from this mistake and will change their evaluation process moving forward. The fans and media will give Pace and Fox a pass on this one as long as they prove they don’t have their own “pattern of poor decision-making.”
Bill Zimmerman is a featured NFL writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter or like him on Facebook.
