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Takeaways from Bears Minicamp, White Sox’s drastic turnaround | Chicago Sports Tonight
On this edition of Chicago Sports Tonight, Tina Nguyen is joined by The Score’s Leila Rahimi and ESPN Chicago’s Pat the Designer to discuss takeaways from the Bears Minicamp, Caleb Williams’ confidence heading into his second season with Ben Johnson, how much pressure is there on Jaylon Johnson. Plus, how the White Sox took the series vs one of the top teams in the National League, why the Cubs should prioritize starting pitcher at the trade deadline, recap USMNT dominate 4-1 win vs. Paraguay, and how Stevenson’s own Jalen Brunson became NBA Finals MVP and led the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years.
A familiar face is back in the NFC North, this time with a Chicago Bears rival.
The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly hired Ryan Pace to their front office under new general manager Nolan Teasley.
What they're saying:
ESPN reported Tuesday that Pace will join the Minnesota Vikings front office under Teasley as a football advisor. Teasley has begun to add to the Vikings' front office after four members of the Vikings' front office left after Teasley was hired.
After Teasley was hired, senior personnel executive Jamaal Stephenson, assistant director of college scouting Pat Roberts, assistant general manager Demitrius Washington and pro scout Salli Clavelle all left the team. Assistant general manager Ryan Grigson will remain with the Vikings under a different title.
Pace is the third addition to the Vikings' front office this week. He joins Trent Kirchner and Azzaam Kapadia as the latest front office hires in Minnesota. Kapadia will be the assistant director of pro scouting, Kirchner will be the assistant general manager.
The backstory:
Pace served as the Bears' general manager from 2015 to 2021. He was the architect of the 2018 Bears team that won the NFC North, but never found a way to replicate that success.
When Pace joined the front office in 2015, he replaced Phil Emery and hired John Fox as the Bears' head coach to replace Marc Trestman. In the 2017 NFL Draft, he traded up one spot with the San Francisco 49ers to select Mitchell Trubisky. Alongside Matt Nagy, who Pace hired as the Bears' head coach in 2018, Trubisky became the first Bears' quarterback since Jim McMahon to earn a Pro Bowl nod.
That swing for Trubisky was the first of three massive moves Pace had in Chicago. The second was the trade for Khalil Mack ahead of the 2018 season, when Pace sent two first-round selections to the Raiders for Mack and a few picks in return. Mack had a standout tenure in Chicago, but Pace was never able to replicate the success the Bears had in 2018.
The Bears fired Pace after the 2021 season, where the Bears had a 6-11 record. This was after Pace's third big swing to trade up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select Justin Fields.