I still feel that Pace learned the wrong lesson from his first draft. He missed on Leonard Williams by one pick and then obviously took Kevin White. I got the sense that he was surprised when the Jets took Williams and it seems like ever since then he is prone to trading up to make sure that he gets "his" guys. So, he has wasted a lot of picks in trades that were not necessary to building the team. Which is not to say that all trades are bad, but you cannot trade up as much as he has for guys that are not truly special. That just kills your ability to build depth and that is what we are seeing now for the Bears is that there is just not a lot of depth and obviously all the issues with the offensive line.
So, because he has no depth or guys in the pipe line, he has to go spend and overpay in free agency rather than being in a position to not overpay and/or let guys walk and get compensatory draft picks to keep that depth and development train rolling. You look at teams like Baltimore and New England and they have been very good for years at the very dynamic - drafting well, developing guys, and being willing to let them walk maybe a year or two early, getting those comp picks, and keeping cap flexibility. No one drafts perfectly - including Baltimore and New England, but because they are more prone to trade back and only very rarely trade up - they have the draft picks to burn so to speak so when they miss here and there they are not completely screwed. They still have good overall talent and depth for the entire team.
The other issue I have with Pace and his drafting especially in round 1 is that, imo, he was too likely to draft the guy that had great physical traits but no consistent production at the collegiate level. The first time he did not do that was Roquan and low and behold, you have a guy that is producing at a high level in the NFL. Although I guess you could also argue that Floyd had production in college that has translated to the NFL. Floyd's a very good linebacker, he was just never a pass rusher which is what he was drafted to be - so again, you drafted a guy with a high pick (top 10) after trading up to be something he never showed in college.
I will say that once Pace finally acknowledges a weakness in the team, he is very aggressive about addressing the spot. But even there, I would argue that he does it at the expense of keeping in mind to build the overall team. I think you see that with pass rushing, the TE position, and even arguably the qb position. He has been very aggressive in trying to fill those spots, and obviously Mack has been the huge positive. I think we all know the fails at qb. And then TE position has also had a -lot- of resources (2 2nd round picks and 2 very high priced free agents) thrown at it with not a lot to show for it - especially when you see the neglect to the offensive line at the same time.
So, back to the topic - could it be worse? Sure, you could end up with a idiot like O'Brien was down in Houston. But, I think Pace has shown that he doesn't really know how to build an entire team that is sustainable, so you have to move on at this point. Yes, he seemingly knows how to scout defensive draft picks, but I don't see how you can trust him with another qb pick. And especially in the modern NFL, if you cannot trust your GM to find a qb then I don't see how you keep that guy as your GM.