The Vikings are hiring Ryan Pace as a football advisor, adding a former Chicago Bears general manager to their front office. 's Kevin Seifert reported the move.

Pace, 49, gives the Vikings a veteran evaluator with 25 years of NFL experience across three organizations. He played defensive end at Eastern Illinois and built his reputation over a long run in personnel work before taking over the Bears' front office in 2015.

His time in Chicago produced a mix of peaks and misses. The Bears won the NFC North in 2018 and reached the playoffs again in 2020, but Pace and Matt Nagy were fired after a 6-11 finish in 2021. Among his better-known draft picks were Leonard Floyd, Cody Whitehair, Eddie Jackson, Roquan Smith, David Montgomery, Jaylon Johnson and Darnell Mooney, while the quarterback swings on Mitch Trubisky in 2017 and Justin Fields in 2021 never delivered the long-term answer Chicago wanted.

Before Chicago, Pace spent 14 seasons in the New Orleans Saints organization, including six years as director of pro scouting and two years as director of player personnel. After leaving the Bears, he worked for the Atlanta Falcons for four years and most recently served as their VP of football operations and player personnel, along with previous titles as senior personnel executive and director of player personnel.

The move matters because the Vikings are bringing in someone who knows how an NFC North front office works, but not someone who is being handed the keys. Pace will be an advisor, not the person making personnel decisions, which means his influence will depend on how the Vikings choose to use a seasoned voice that has already survived one firing and then a second departure in February.

For Pace, the next step is clear even if the boundaries are not. He is back inside a division that shaped his reputation, this time in a role built more for counsel than control, and the real test is how much room the Vikings give him to shape what comes next.