Chicago Bears: 3 Things we learned from Ryan Pace’s pre-draft press conference
Bears needed to trade Howard and Pace got the best deal for him
The worst-kept secret around the Chicago Bears since Matt Nagy came to town was that running back Jordan Howard was not a fit in his system and that he’d be traded. There were rumblings last offseason that a deal could be made but ultimately the Bears kept Howard.
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In 2018, everything people said about Howard’s fit came to fruition. After back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, he failed to reach that mark. He looked slow and indecisive on runs. The people who were upset about the situation point to Howard’s production in the final five games of the regular season as proof that he could fit.
However, his success was due more with the fact that Nagy went away from his system to involve Howard. Nagy’s system spreads the ball around. Instead, Nagy kept feeding Howard. That bogged down the offense.
Because of that, as much as everyone loved him, Howard had to go. Pace shipped him to the Philadelphia Eagles. He got the Eagles’ 2020 sixth-round pick that could go up to a fifth-round pick depending on performance. Even though many people felt that wasn’t enough, with running backs losing value, and with a deep running back class in this draft, Pace felt he got the best deal he could for Howard, per the Chicago Sun-Times:
"When you talk about trades, I think there’s always a narrative out there: ‘Oh, you could get this.’ This is the reality. You know what I mean? We work those channels all the time. We’re doing them right now. That’s the reality of what it is. We feel good about it. We feel good moving forward. We feel really good about that [running back] room, and we wish Jordan the best."
Look, Howard ranked as one of the worst runners between the tackles last season. Also, he wasn’t the elusive back Nagy covets. To add to that, he wasn’t a viable option in the passing game. He had to go, and if the Bears get a pick in the same round they got him in it’s a success.