Bears GM Ryan Pace optimistic about new QB Mike Glennon

In the midst of a hectic week of free agency shopping, Bears general manager Ryan Pace took a moment Friday afternoon to summarize the team’s progress. Before the team officially introduced Mike Glennon as its new starting quarterback, Pace met with reporters at Halas Hall to discuss the biggest happenings of the week. That included the departure of Alshon Jeffery to the Eagles; the arrival of Glennon; and the subsequent signings of tight end Dion Sims, safety Quintin Demps and receiver Markus Wheaton, who were all also introduced Friday.

Here are some highlights from what Pace had to say:

On his big-picture overview of free agency …

When I look at this, free agency is part of our plan but it’s not the entire thing. The entire thing is building this the right way. A lot of times, that’s supplementing with free agency and building this team through the draft. That’s really our focus. We want to be responsible through this process, disciplined through this process, and I feel like we’ve done that and improved our team.

On the Bears’ willingness to let Jeffery test free agency and his ultimate decision to leave for Philadelphia …

We talked about those things behind the scenes with him and those discussions go back and forth. Ultimately that’s what was decided. We knew when we didn’t tag him that these were scenarios that could happen. We put a value on each player. Right now I wish him the best and Philly the best. … We talked to Alshon Jeffery. We did and it just didn’t work out. But we’re moving forward.

On his evaluations of Glennon …

I’ve liked Mike ever since (he was at) N.C. State, honestly. Being in the same division, at New Orleans, was beneficial, being up close. Obviously he’s a big quarterback with a strong arm. But beyond that, he has all the other traits that I value at the position – he’s intelligent, he can quickly process (information), he can see the field, he’s accurate, he gets the ball out quick. So there are a lot of traits about him that I like.

On Glennon’s leadership qualities …

I’ll tell you a quick story. Yesterday afternoon, I was talking to him and the first question he asked is right away, ‘Hey, so when I get in obviously I want to get the playbook. And can I get all the tape downloaded on an iPad?’ He asked, ‘Can I (also) have pictures of everybody in the building who I’m going to interact with – with their names, everybody in the building. Can I have the cell phones of every single player on offense and certain guys on defense?’ So right away I think that tells you something about a guy when that’s kind of his mindset before he even walks in the building.

On how he measures whether a back-up quarterback can make the leap to become a starter …

I think you look back to how he performed in college. He was a highly successful player in college and then you just evaluate every single snap that he’s taken the entire time in the NFL. I mean his sample size is big enough to have a good feel for that. And it’s not just me. There’s a collective agreement in the building that I like.

On whether Glennon’s arrival changes the Bears’ plans to draft a quarterback …

I think the best thing about free agency is if we can address some of our needs, again, it opens up the draft for best player available. And then when we do that it’s just increasing our odds (of success). … We’re going to take the best player at every pick so it could (impact where we draft a quarterback). Again, we have a lot of confidence in Mike Glennon and we’re excited he’s here. It opens things up.

On Glennon’s upside …
He’s got all the traits that you want in a quarterback. Height, arm strength, accuracy, the ability to quickly process. So I don’t know how high the ceiling is. I’m just glad we have him in the mix as our starting quarterback to compete and get better.

On Glennon’s shortcomings …

Today’s such a positive day. You know I, you’d have to ask him on that. I’m just excited he’s here and I just like to talk about his strengths.

On the addition of Wheaton at receiver …

Markus is a deep-threat receiver. … I really like his makeup and his toughness going all the way back to Oregon State. But he’s a guy who can really run and gives us that element in our offense that I think that we need – speed.

On the addition of Demps in the secondary …

He’s a guy who’s played corner and he’s played safety. He’s still showing his speed, he’ still showing his ball skills. He’s one of those guys, going all the way back to UTEP, he’s just always around the football. He’s always around the ball. I think, too, (it’s beneficial) for a younger secondary group to have him in the mix as kind of a calming presence, a veteran presence.

On the addition of Sims at tight end …

He’s just a well-rounded player. He’s very solid in a lot of areas. Obviously Adam (Gase) is running a similar offense down there (in Miami) to what we’re running here. So there won’t be much of a transition or learning curve for that. We’re happy we got him. We’ve liked him for a long time. He fits the culture, too, of what we want to do here.

dwiederer@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @danwiederer

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