"Chicago Bears chairman George H. McCaskey is feeling pretty good these days. The Bears won their division last year and Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy were named the 2018 NFL executive of the year and coach of the year, respectively. He recently spoke to the media about the duo during the NFL owner meetings. «I think it gives us hope for the future, and I'm looking forward to getting after it in our centennial season,» McCaskey said. «The word I keep coming back to is their ‘collaboration' seems very sound, productive, respectful,» McCaskey said. «I think they balance each other out very well. «I told them from the beginning, ‘You guys don't always need to agree, but the general manager/head coach relationship is as important or more important than the head coach/play-caller/quarterback relationship.' They need to have vigorous discussion and the sounding of ideas, and when the discussion is finished and the decision is made, they need to move forward together and I think they do a great job of doing that.»When approached about the Khalil Mack trade, McCaskey was on board. «I knew he was a dynamic player,» McCaskey said. «Ryan said it was an opportunity to get a premier player at a premier position in the prime of his career, and when you have an opportunity like that, you have to go for it." «I think Matt has said this publicly many times: It was what he described as persistence over resistance. [Mack] transformed the team on both sides of the ball. I thought Ryan said it very well. When your best players are your hardest workers, that's a good thing.»
