Rory Sparrow
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Lots of nonsense being bandied about on CCS regarding Pace's trade of Jordan Howard. A foolish few even insist that Pace should have traded Howard PRIOR to the 2018 season!
To me, its interesting how Howard's situation paralleled with Urlacher's final days in Chicago. Let's say, hypothetically, that Nagy could see the future and knew that Howard wouldn't work in his offense. Would there have been any reason to still keep Howard around for the 2018 season?
Let's look at Urlacher's situation. Trestman was the new HC with no prior NFL head coaching experience and very little cache' in the Bears lockerroom. He needed buy-in from the veterans to establish himself as the leader. Urlacher wasn’t playing at an All-Pro level by 2012, but he was still the defensive captain and the starting MLB for a 10-6 team. So what does GM Phil Emery do? He decides that Urlacher doesn’t have much left in the tank, and very publicly sends him on his way. Bears players (especially defensive players) immediately resent Emery, question the move to hire Trestman, and the lockerroom is fractured from the very start and is never mended. Emery’s and Trestman’s careers are irreparably harmed, and by 2014 the Bears are the joke of the NFL.
Pace’s hiring of Nagy was similar to Trestman’s. Pace himself had a terrible GM record at that point, and Nagy had no prior HC experience and was an unknown to the Bears players. Nagy needed buy-in from the veterans to establish himself as a leader. What message would have been sent had Pace’s first move been to trade Jordan Howard, the offensive leader and arguably the team’s best player? Would that have ‘gained the trust’ of the lockerroom for Nagy? Would off-loading Howard given Nagy ‘gravitas’ with the veterans? Of course not. The whole idea is patently absurd. And we had already seen how this played out just a few years ago.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
To me, its interesting how Howard's situation paralleled with Urlacher's final days in Chicago. Let's say, hypothetically, that Nagy could see the future and knew that Howard wouldn't work in his offense. Would there have been any reason to still keep Howard around for the 2018 season?
Let's look at Urlacher's situation. Trestman was the new HC with no prior NFL head coaching experience and very little cache' in the Bears lockerroom. He needed buy-in from the veterans to establish himself as the leader. Urlacher wasn’t playing at an All-Pro level by 2012, but he was still the defensive captain and the starting MLB for a 10-6 team. So what does GM Phil Emery do? He decides that Urlacher doesn’t have much left in the tank, and very publicly sends him on his way. Bears players (especially defensive players) immediately resent Emery, question the move to hire Trestman, and the lockerroom is fractured from the very start and is never mended. Emery’s and Trestman’s careers are irreparably harmed, and by 2014 the Bears are the joke of the NFL.
Pace’s hiring of Nagy was similar to Trestman’s. Pace himself had a terrible GM record at that point, and Nagy had no prior HC experience and was an unknown to the Bears players. Nagy needed buy-in from the veterans to establish himself as a leader. What message would have been sent had Pace’s first move been to trade Jordan Howard, the offensive leader and arguably the team’s best player? Would that have ‘gained the trust’ of the lockerroom for Nagy? Would off-loading Howard given Nagy ‘gravitas’ with the veterans? Of course not. The whole idea is patently absurd. And we had already seen how this played out just a few years ago.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."