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Chicago Bears Positioned For A Massive 2016 Reboot

By Erik Lambert

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GM Ryan Pace has built a reputation on being a guy who won’t make a move until he’s ready to do so.  He waited three weeks into the NFL season, almost to make sure his team wasn’t better than many expected before putting into action the next phase of moves that will allow him to construct the roster he and head coach John Fox have envisioned for the Chicago Bears franchise.

Removing the busts and the fossils.

In the space of less than 24 hours, Pace has increased both his stash of spending money and draft picks for 2016.  Barring something unforeseen, the Bears will have upwards of $60 million in salary cap space after unloading Jared Allen’s contract, long viewed as a huge mistake by former GM Phil Emery.  They will also go into next April with nine draft picks, their largest amount since 2009.

That was the same draft where they got Henry Melton and Johnny Knox.

Obviously getting two sixth round picks for what was supposed to be a game-changing pass rusher and heir apparent to Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher looks bad, but that failure is on Emery and his staff.  Pace deserves a ton of credit for getting anything at all for either of them.

For those who might be interested to know, here is a list of notable 6th round picks the Bears have made:

  • Ed Brown (1952)
  • Kline Gilbert (1953)
  • Bob Avellini (1975)
  • Dan Jiggetts (1977)
  • Lemuel Stinson (1988)
  • Patrick Mannelly (1998)
  • Paul Edinger (2000)
  • Adrian Peterson (2002)
  • Chris Harris (2005)
  • Pat O’Donnell (2014)

Who knows.  With three picks in that round now, perhaps their chances of finding a hidden gem is as high as its been in decades.  If anything else, the Bears are well-positioned to give their roster a much-needed youth infusion next year.

Next: Chicago Bears: Respect Cutler and 9 Other Thoughts

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