My take on Pace is still incomplete, but I like his approach. When he took over this team, it was a complete mess we all know that. It was an old roster filled with ageing vets with bloated contracts, and Jay Cutler. He could have done what previous GM's did which was try to keep the roster in tact bringing in overvalued FA's and maintaining 6-10 or 7-9 records for the foreseeable future, or do what he did which was blow it up and start over. This meant getting rid of some players that were beloved by fans. That doesn't always sit well with meatballs. Sure keeping Forte and Marshall could have meant 1-2 more wins a season, but it also means no Howard, no Cohen most likely.
While his FA signings have not been great, they have not hurt the long term development and growth of the roster. Each FA signing was made with a way to get out of the contract after 1-2 years without much damage. If he brought in 10 FA's with question marks and hit on 1-2 (Akiem Hicks, Prince Amukamaura) that is success. Lets be honest, did anyone here really think Glennon was the QB of the future for the Bears? Did he overpay for him...Of Course, but it was a one year flier. If Glennon surprised everyone, you let him play out the contract, if not, bye bye. The point is, typically FA's are FA's for a reason. Teams did not see value for what a player is asking. It is EXTREMELY rare to find an undervalued player in FA.
As far as the draft goes, I feel he has had some solid draft picks for the most part mixing team need and BPA. He has his share of hits with players like Howard, Cohen, Goldman, Whitehair, Jackson...etc. Kevin White has been the big glaring exception and to me, it is hard to blame Pace when it has been injury that has made him a bust thus far. You can make the argument that there were players at other positions of need on the board at that point in the draft and Pace created the hole at WR by sending Marshall packing and not resigning Jeffery. Those are fair arguments, but this was not going to be turned around overnight and I feel Pace saw White with more athleticism and upside potential than anyone available in that draft.
Overall, I feel this team is light years better than when he took over and pointed in the right direction. Would I have liked to have seen more wins along the way, sure, who wouldn't, but not at the expense of building a strong foundation and deep roster.