(670 The Score) There is no one path for players in the NFL. A top pick can boom or bust, a seventh-round selection can make a name more than "Mr. Irrelevant," and a prospect passed up 254 picks this weekend can enjoy a decade-long career.
It's why the fascination for this weekend and the NFL Draft is so considerable -- why the pressure is so great on general managers. Stack a few strong drafts and a team can become a champion, or a few bad ones and that team is stuck in last place.
Chicago and its Bears know this all too well the last decade. The poor drafting at the end of Jerry Angelo's tenure as general manager and later in Phil Emery's three years left the Bears as one of the NFL's worst organizations. Since arriving with the Bears in 2015, Ryan Pace has added many starters and several stars through bold convictions and careful scouting. The team enjoyed a worst-to-first turnaround in 2018 and is now positioned as a contender.
It leaves the Bears this weekend with five slots in the draft, and none until the third round and 87th pick -- part of the luxury for complementing a deep organization with a superstar like Khalil Mack. But even for these Bears, set to fight for a championship the next several seasons, this draft is crucial. It's about sustaining that success.
Pace and the Bears must fill some voids on the 2019 depth chart -- running back, for example -- while ensuring the roster doesn't bottom out as they pay second contracts.
"That's always our approach and it's every team's approach," Pace said Tuesday at Halas Hall. "To draft, develop and then extend those guys. We're mindful of that going forward. Free agency is a tough business to live in and I feel like if we can continue to string together good drafts, that's how you sustain long-term health."
Given the amount of second contracts to be signed in the coming years -- Pro Bowl center Cody Whitehair expected in the coming months and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky likely a few seasons down the road -- the Bears must capitalize with the players working on rookie contracts.
This weekend, the Bears start out with that 87th pick after making two win-now moves in 2018. They traded the first-round pick as part of the blockbuster for Mack and the second-round slot to move up last year and draft receiver Anthony Miller.
Pace has been in this position before with the Saints in 2012. Their first pick came 89th overall, and it was a future Pro Bowl defensive lineman out of Regina, Canada, named Akiem Hicks.
Will the Bears find another diamond in the rough?
"I already talked to Pace about it," Hicks said. "I said, 'Man, you struck gold on the first one, you got to do it again.'"
The Bears could wind up taking a running back with their first selection, though it may not come at pick 87. Pace has shown a propensity to be aggressive with this championship window built into Trubisky's rookie contract. After trading 2016 Pro Bowl running back Jordan Howard, the Bears could ensure the right fit for Nagy and his budding offense.
Penn State's Miles Sanders seems to be the top option in play for the Bears. He won't fall to the third round, but Pace could use one of his two 2020 second-round picks to trade up and fill a key void, similar to his move for Miller last April.
The Bears have done detailed scouting work on seemingly every running back prospect in the draft. They have evaluated a number of running backs, including Florida Atlantic's Devin Singletary, Oklahoma State's Justice Hill, Iowa State's David Montgomery and more.
Sanders has been in multiple meetings with Pace and his brass and could see himself as the kind of multi-dimensional running back that Howard was never capable of becoming.
"I definitely believe I can be that complete running back that any team wants me to be as far as a Saquon, Tarik Cohen, Christian McCaffrey, Todd Gurley," Sanders said by phone last month. "I can be a three-down back, a very versatile running back.
"I like (the Bears) offense, I like their scheme. Coach Nagy, great coach. Great coaching staff over there."
Trading up for a running back like Sanders fits the Bears' urgency to win in 2019, and addresses a key need. But this may be the only scenario in which Pace is trading up this weekend. Winning organizations like the Patriots are typically trading down in the draft, trusting the scouting work will produce talent with a stockpile of picks available.
In 2018, the Bears started nine players either selected by Pace and his brass on Day 3 of the NFL Draft or signed as undrafted free agents.
In other words, trading down fits this team and regime well.
"I think the primary factor would be, hey, look, there are a lot of players here that we kind of equally like," Pace said. "We feel comfortable that we can go back and still be in this group of players and acquire draft picks by doing that. That's where you feel like you can do it.
"It's kind of a no-regrets mindset. If there's a player there falling that we have great value on, we're going to explore it."
There are some positions one could predict the Bears will be drafting this weekend. There's running back as the obvious need, plus tight end, safety, and -- yes -- kicker. With more than five picks at his disposal, Pace can feel comfortable balancing the present with the near future and adding some developmental pieces.
Given their impending cap situation, the Bears may be parting ways with veterans like Kyle Long, Danny Trevathan and Prince Amukamara at the end of their current deals, or perhaps sooner. The cost of success is not cheap, and those second contracts add up. Privately at Halas Hall, positions like guard, inside linebacker and cornerback could be priorities.
Pace opens up the draft room to every scout who has played a role in the long process leading up to this weekend. Having cut his teeth as a scouting assistant and working his way up, Pace understands the efforts that go into this.
It has been a team effort for the Bears to become division champions and open this chance at contention. With every pick in even this draft, their window can open or close a little more.
"The onus is on us to hit on these draft picks," Pace said. "We have limited picks. We need to hit on these guys. We're excited to get started."
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
