Myriad challenges for Bears GM Ryan Pace amid coronavirus-related impositions

Nailing down a roster and making long-term plans are more challenging than ever for NFL teams as the pandemic leaves its footprint on this season and the next few.

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Bears GM Ryan Pace plans to have the roster trimmed to 80 by the end of the weekend.

Bears GM Ryan Pace plans to have the roster trimmed to 80 by the end of the weekend.

Chicago Sun-Times

The Bears are navigating unprecedented obstacles as they shape their roster for the upcoming season. With a limited practice schedule and no preseason games, it’ll be tough for general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy to pick the right guys.

And before they fully dive into that process, Pace still has a few more days of nervously checking his phone to see if anyone else is opting out of the season because of the coronavirus.

“That’s just an unpredictable [situation],” he said Wednesday. “It’s such an individual decision, such a personal decision that we’re very respectful of.”

The only Bears player to withdraw so far is defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, and Pace said he’s not aware of any others who plan to follow him. But players still have until Monday to exercise that option.

By then, Pace plans to trim the roster to 80 to better facilitate social distancing, instead of carrying 90 all the way to cut-down day like most seasons. The Bears are at 83 after waiving cornerback Tre Roberson, who is recovering from a broken foot. Pace said they’ll continue to work with him with the idea of giving him another shot.

From the remaining 80, the Bears will pick a 53-man roster and an expanded 16-man practice squad (likely populated primarily by players they cut) by Sept. 5.

All of that is made more difficult by the fact that actual practices won’t begin until Aug. 17 as players get into football shape after the unusually long layoff.

The NFL and the players’ union agreed to nix the preseason to accommodate that ramp-up period, which presents another problem. While the preseason is meaningless for players like Khalil Mack, it’s vital to second- and third-stringers vying for roster spots.

“There’s going to be players who get cut who probably shouldn’t get cut,” Nagy said. “That’s where I think Ryan and our personnel staff have a really big challenge . . . Hopefully we’re on the right end of keeping the right ones and not getting rid of [good] players.”

But Nagy and Pace have been adamant for months that the pandemic-related impositions can’t be an excuse, and teams that adapt the best will be most successful on the field. They’re still working on details, including the possibility of holding onto No. 3 quarterback Tyler Bray as insurance against an outbreak at that position.

Some of the issues this season will bleed into next year and beyond. The NFL’s enormous projected revenue loss will be spread out as sizable salary-cap reductions from 2021 through 2024. Pace has to consider that when weighing a contract extension for receiver Allen Robinson, who will otherwise hit free agency in March.

“I’m confident we’ll work through it,” Pace said of the 2021 cap. “It’s not going to prevent us from doing the things that we want to do.”

As far as nailing down the depth chart, nothing matters more than choosing between quarterbacks Nick Foles and Mitch Trubisky. Beyond that, though, Pace highlighted competitions on the offensive line and in the secondary.

He’s also banking on a solution emerging at tight end, where he drafted Notre Dame’s Cole Kmet in the second round, signed Jimmy Graham to a widely criticized contract and brought in journeyman Demetrius Harris.

“We like where we’re at right now,” Nagy said.

“I think it’s a really intriguing group,” Pace added.

It better be more than intriguing. The Bears need someone in that group to be good, or they’ll endure a repeat of last season’s void.

Those are the unknowns Pace and Nagy will struggle to solve in a cramped preseason. They need to know before the opener whether Graham can still run, whether Trubisky has learned to read defenses, whether they have a dependable outside corner to pair with Kyle Fuller — and they might not.

NOTE: Bears tight end Eric Saubert was put on the NFL’s Reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday. According to league guidelines, he either tested positive or was in the presence of someone who had.

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