Chicago fans went from the highest of highs, with optimism swirling once Russell Wilson tabbed the Bears as one of the teams he would give a seal of approval on a trade to. The jersey photoshops had started, the armchair general managers were crafting trade packages and all was okay for Bears' fans. Fast forward to yesterday, and Andy Dalton is now a Chicago Bear, Wilson will be staying put for now in Seattle, and Ryan Pace has once again become the punching bag on social media.

It's unfathomable how many chances Pace has gotten and botched the quarterback position for the Bears during his time as general manager.

It started back in 2017, when Pace's first decision running the show was to sign Mike Glennon to a three-year deal, that went year by year and ended up being a one-year situation for $18 million. Yes, that Mike Glennon. The same Mike Glennon who the year prior in 2016, did absolutely nothing in two starts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pace forked over $18 million for that guy. As shocked as you may be, it did not work out in Chicago. Glennon started four games, going 1-3 in those starts while throwing for  more interceptions than touchdowns. A swing and a miss for Pace. But he stepped right back into the batter's box.

The Bears, under Pace, also drafted a quarterback in 2017. They traded up in the draft, to take Mitchell Trubisky with the number two overall pick, out of North Carolina.

Now some will look back on this move and point out that Trubisky was the first quarterback taken and was selected ahead of Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. I don't give the Bears or Pace grief for that. There were other teams after that sure, didn't take a quarterback and also passed on those two.

I give the Bears credit for one thing with the Trubisky selection: they truly believed they had found their franchise quarterback and they even moved up in the draft to select him. It didn't work out the way they thought it would but they took their chance in the first round on what they thought would be a franchise changing QB.

Trubisky's time in Chicago was choppy. He showed flashes but not nearly enough and the Bears never emerged as a real threat with him under center. Pace went down swinging with this one.

Next in line, Nick Foles. The Bears traded a 4th round pick to take on Foles and his contract, ending his short stay in Jacksonville. The former Super Bowl MVP had proven that the playoff run with the Eagles was a fairytale, not a sign of things to come and Pace still thought he could tap into and unlock a side of Foles that just wasn't there.

Foles is still on the roster, he started seven games in 2020 of which the Bears went 2-5 and he looked lost at times behind an offensive line that couldn't hold its own with him in the pocket.

Now we've come to the grand finale. Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy are very much so on their last straw in Chicago. And after some back and forth with Seattle on a Russell Wilson trade that the Seahawks opted to pass on, Pace and company decided the best chance to salvage their jobs was with Andy Dalton.

The same Andy Dalton who has started at least nine games every year since 2016 and hasn't had a winning record since 2015 as a starting QB. It's quite a bold move to put all your eggs in that basket. Now, the options are limited for Chicago.

They can draft and develop a quarterback but the problem is all signs point towards this being a make it or break it year for Pace and Nagy. They don't have time to start fresh and do it over with a young quarterback. That's why Wilson or Watson made perfect sense if they wanted to go all the way in, the cards just didn't fall their way.

So it appears Dalton will head in to training camp as the number one quarterback on the depth chart. The expectations are low and the tensions could rise early in the 2021 season for Chicago.

For all the jokes Bears fans made at the expense of the Packers for drafting Jordan Love when they have Aaron Rodgers, perhaps the lesson learned is that you should draft a quarterback when you don't need one, instead of scrambling for an answer all the years the Bears have.