Bears general manager Ryan Pace did not make a trade Tuesday. | Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
The Bears didn’t make a trade before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline.
The Bears didn’t make a trade before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline.
That means wide receiver Allen Robinson, backup quarterbacks Andy Dalton and Nick Foles and others will ride out the rest of the season on a team that currently sits at 3-5 and is in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
General manager Ryan Pace’s decision to stand pat wasn’t surprising. Bears chairman George McCaskey said he wanted to see progress from both Pace and coach Matt Nagy when deciding whether or not to employ them beyond this season. A fire sale would have been the opposite of progress,
The Bears weren’t motivated by trying to tank, either, given that they owe the Giants their 2022 first-round pick as a result of the Justin Fields trade.
The NFL trade deadline came and went with few shockwaves Tuesday. Steelers linebacker Melvin Ingram, who has only one sack over the past two seasons, was the biggest name moved Tuesday. He went to the Chiefs for a sixth-round draft pick.
A day earlier, the Broncos traded star edge rusher Von Miller to the Rams.
Pace’s history suggested he wouldn’t deal at the deadline. He hasn’t traded a veteran player during the regular season in six years. In his first season in charge, in 2015, Pace dealt edge rusher Jared Allen and inside linebacker Jon Bostic to the Panthers and Patriots on the same September day, landing sixth-round picks for each.
The Bears were coming off one of the most embarrassing losses of the John Fox era — a 26-0 defeat in Seattle during which backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen threw for 63 yards. The Bears punted to end each drive and ran three plays in Seahawks territory.
In the six years since, Pace has made only two in-season trades. Both were to add, not trade, veterans. On Oct. 26, 2017, he gave up a conditional pick to the Chargers for receiver Dontrelle Inman; he’d catch 23 balls for 334 yards in eight games paired with rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
On Oct. 5, he traded a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Dolphins for returner Jakeem Grant, who has been dynamic for the Bears.
