Now all the Bears need is a coach.
OK, so clearly the organization needs a lot more than that. However, they crossed a major item off their checklist Thursday when they hired Ryan Pace as their new general manager.
Pace has been with the New Orleans Saints organization for 14 years, including the past two as director of player personnel. He will be officially introduced at a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday at Halas Hall. Until then, here are six things to know about the Bears' new shot caller.
He's young for a GM
The Bears took a page out of the Cubs' book. At 37, Pace becomes the youngest GM in the NFL. He's one year younger than Theo Epstein when he became Cubs president of baseball operations and several years younger than the other GM candidates the Bears interviewed. Not to mention there's one player on the roster older than Pace: 38-year-old kicker Jay Feely.
He's from Flower Mound, Texas
It's a suburb of Dallas, about 27 miles northwest of that city. One of the Bears' recent hires from Texas (coach Lovie Smith was born in Gladewater and grew up in Big Sandy) took the team to the Super Bowl. Maybe that state's got a little more mojo.
He's a Panther
Pace played defensive end at Eastern Illinois from 1995-99; he left a season before Tony Romo became the starting quarterback. In 1998, Pace led the Panthers in tackles for loss with nine.
He survived Bountygate
Before the 2014 NFL Draft, Pace addressed the Saints' draft philosophy. The conversation came two years after the league doled out several suspensions to those involved in putting a bounty on opposing offensive players.
"I feel like the last couple years we've been even more critical of that than ever," Pace said in an interview on neworleanssaints.com regarding the team's evaluation process. "I would say [in 2014] the number of magnets on our draftable board is narrower than we've had in the past because I think we've been very critical of non-character fits."
He knows what a franchise quarterback looks like.
Question No. 1 for Pace during his introductory news conference Friday should be: Will he keep Jay Cutler around? He's used to acquiring guys to play with eight-time Pro Bowler Drew Brees.
During Pace's 13 seasons in the New Orleans personnel department (2002-14), the Saints compiled a 115-93 record. Since 2006, the Saints reached the playoffs five times and won Super Bowl XLIV. Bears fans could get used that.
Sean Payton has his back.
Not that it's a surprise, considering the Saints coach and Pace share ties with Eastern Illinois and have worked together for years. Still, it's good to know Payton should be sorry to see him go.
"He's very talented," Payton said at a news conference Dec. 29. "I know I get fired up when he comes to see me first thing this morning and his mind's already racing; I know he's all in with us."