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Bears hire Saints' Ryan Pace as GM to replace fired Emery

NFL, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Ryan Pace comes to the Chicago Bears with no experience as a general manager and no ties to the organization. What he does have is one big task on his hands.

His job: transform one of the NFL's founding franchises back into a winner.

The Bears hired Pace as general manager Thursday to replace the fired Phil Emery, hoping he can rejuvenate a team that just missed the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years.

At 37, Pace becomes the sixth GM in team history and the youngest in the league at the moment.

He spent 14 seasons with the New Orleans Saints' front office and helped build a Super Bowl champion. He was New Orleans' director of player personnel the past two years, helping manage their pro and college scouting operations, and he served as the team's director of pro scouting from 2007-12.

Pace will join a team coming off a miserable 5-11 season. The Bears quickly fell out of contention in the NFC North, costing Emery and coach Marc Trestman their jobs, and had all sorts of distractions derail a season that began with legitimate thoughts of a playoff berth.

The Bears also interviewed Kansas City Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard, who spent 12 years in Chicago working under Emery and his predecessor Jerry Angelo, along with Tennessee Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson and Houston Texans director of pro personnel Brian Gaine.

As for the coaching job, the Bears interviewed Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles on Thursday -- and Pace was in on that session. Chicago has also interviewed Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and Denver offensive coordinator Adam Gase for that position.

The Bears must decide if they're going to stick with quarterback Jay Cutler after the offense took a big step backward, and do something about a defense that has ranked among the league's worst the past two years.

New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis praised the hiring of Pace, calling him "an outstanding member" of the organization.

"He has been a key contributor in developing our roster throughout the past years," Loomis said. "We will miss Ryan and his wife Stephanie however we are excited that that they will be with an organization like the Chicago Bears, of which we have the highest regard."

Former Saints players Steve Gleason and Scott Fujita also had good things to say about Pace on Twitter.

"Ryan Pace GM Chicago Bears. Awesome guy. One of my all time favorite Saints personnel. Sad to see him leave NOLA. Good luck Ryan!" Gleason posted.

Fujita called him a "great guy, great hire."

Pace grew up in Texas and played defensive end at Eastern Illinois in the late 1990s. He has a daunting task as he tries to rebuild the team and win back fans after they stayed away from Soldier Field by the thousands late in the season.

Chicago has been to the playoffs just four times since the start of the 1995 season. Only Oakland (three), Houston (two) and Cleveland (one) have fewer appearances in that span.

The Bears thought they had a contender with a prolific offense returning intact and a rebuilt defense in tow. But little went right for Chicago.

Trestman, who was hired to get the most out of Cutler, even benched the highly paid quarterback in favor of Jimmy Clausen for the second-to-last game of the season against Detroit. Cutler wound up starting the final game after Clausen suffered a concussion against the Lions, adding another chapter to a season-long soap opera.

The Bears joined the 1923 Rochester Jeffersons as the only teams to give up 50 or more points in back-to-back games in losses to New England and Green Bay. Defensive end Lamarr Houston also suffered a season-ending knee injury celebrating a meaningless sack against the Patriots.

While the new general manager's most immediate task is to find a coach, some big decisions about the roster loom. Topping that list is Cutler, who signed a $126 million, seven-year contract at the end of last season and then tied Philip Rivers for the league lead with 18 interceptions.

The deal, which guaranteed $54 million, makes him difficult if not impossible to trade. Another possibility is cutting him. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall's future with the team is also in question even though he signed a three-year extension through 2017 last May.

And a defense that ranked among the league's worst the past two years under coordinator Mel Tucker still needs a major upgrade. The overhaul that brought in Jared Allen among others last offseason did not pay off, and a spotty draft record by Emery and predecessor Jerry Angelo left the Bears lacking depth.

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