Tobacco Road to Michigan Avenue, nobody saw this coming.
Nobody expected Ryan Pace, the Bears' mild-mannered general manager, to barge into the draft room Thursday night at Halas Hall and pull off the equivalent of a primal scream. Pace trading three draft picks to the 49ers to move up one spot to draft North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky loudly announced the Bears have had enough with the status quo.
It's about time.
The Bears could have stayed in the third spot and safely taken a defensive impact player to suit coach John Fox, or maybe even Trubisky if he was still on the board. They could have gone by the book like NFL executives typically do and the way Pace fooled everyone into believing he would. But in going all-in to draft a Trubisky for all the Grabowskis in Chicago, Pace opted for bold over blase.
So much for the Bears being boring. A slight buzz is back, created by a sturdy 6-foot-2, 225-pounder with the confidence necessary to survive in the NFL's third-largest market.
Asked during a teleconference if starting only 13 games in college might impair his NFL progress, Trubisky said, "I don't think that's true," pointing out he played in 30 games.
"I've had plenty of experience," he said. "I'm only scratching the surface."
You can't encourage the Bears to go big at the draft _ as I did in this space _ and then criticize a move that fits the definition of blockbuster. You can't urge Pace to make an inspired choice to pick a quarterback in the first round and then rip the selection because it wasn't Deshaun Watson, the quarterback I preferred.
No, I am not crazy about the cost the Bears paid for Trubisky. But I can appreciate what motivated a struggling organization to take a calculated risk, identify a franchise quarterback and invest as much as necessary to draft him.
Yes, the Bears gave up a small fortune for a relatively inexperienced quarterback: The 49ers received the Bears' third-round pick and a fourth-rounder in this year's draft and a third-round choice in 2018. But if Trubisky proves to be as good as the Bears think he is, nobody will complain about the mid-round draft picks lost.
The deal appeared to be a win for new 49ers general manager John Lynch, who selected defensive lineman Solomon Thomas at No. 3 _ whom he might have taken at No. 2 anyway. The Bears acted aggressively in case another team _ the Browns? _ wanted to swing a deal for Trubisky as badly as they did. The high price contradicted everything Pace said previously about rebuilding through the draft. The deal also was contrary with how much Pace said he valued a quarterback who had elevated his program _ North Carolina went 8-5 last season. All the conflicting pre-draft rhetoric confirmed Pace is not someone to invite to your next poker game. Even Trubisky expressed surprise given how little contact the Bears had with him during the pre-draft process.
But Pace's approach might have been just what a sleepy franchise needed.
Think the Eagles regret the package of draft picks they gave up in 2016 to move up from the eighth spot to second in order to take quarterback Carson Wentz? That cost the Eagles a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder, a 2017 first-rounder and a 2018 second-rounder, and nobody minds now.
It's fun to wonder whether the Patriots would have accepted the same compensation for backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo but serves little purpose given coach Bill Belichick's reluctance to trade Tom Brady's backup. Knowing that, the Bears executed the last part of Plan B in stunning fashion.
In trading for Trubisky, Pace aligned his career with his hand-picked quarterback's. Trubisky's presence buys Pace more time as the quarterback develops _ but not necessarily Fox. For clarification, the rookie's development shouldn't be accelerated if the Bears and starter Mike Glennon open 0-4 against a killer schedule. Patience and discipline will be required for the time it will take for Trubisky to mature.
But Pace didn't draft a quarterback at No. 2 overall to solidify his job security. He stuck his neck out because he believed Trubisky was the right player at a position the Bears traditionally have gotten wrong.
Please stop worrying about how drafting Trubisky will affect Glennon. The Bears guaranteed Glennon $18.5 million and nothing else. If Glennon plays well, the Bears have an asset they always can trade next offseason to recoup some of the draft picks. If he plays poorly, the transition will be smoother once Trubisky is ready, whenever that is.
Besides getting back to the Super Bowl in the long term, the biggest short-term challenge for Trubisky _ and more so for Pace _ will be winning in the court of public opinion. Chronic losing has conditioned Bears fans to react cynically to front-office moves, and this one was no different based on a sampling of social media. A relative crazy about the Bears summed up the feelings of many Chicagoans in a text after the trade: "I just met my Tinder date who looks nothing like her profile picture. And now I have to get through dinner. Help."
The Trubisky-Bears relationship indeed might be a disaster. Or Thursday could have marked the beginning of something special. Until we know more, it's OK to love the sentiment.
