Chicago Bears 2024
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FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
This will be one of the most intriguing offseasons in Bears history. I looked up the league calendar, here are the dates to watch out for:
2/22 - clubs may begin to designate Franchise/Transition tags
2/27-3/4 - NFL Scouting Combine (also includes 6 Illini)
3/5 - deadline to designate Franchise/Transition tags (Jaylon Johnson likely to be tagged unless they get a deal)
(Last year, the Bears traded the #1 overall to the Panthers on 3/10. So there is a good chance they either trade the pick or trade JF1 around this time)
3/11-3/13 - Free Agent "tampering" period, when the biggest signings typically get announced
3/13 at 3pm CT - League year begins, free agent signings become official
3/24-3/27 - Annual league meetings (another window for The Trade if it's still unknown by now)
4/15 - Offseason workout programs can begin
4/17 - Deadline to time, test, visit, interview or conduct physicals on draft prospects at Halas Hall (in case they go QB with the #1)
4/24 - Deadline for the above at any location
4/25-4/27 NFL DRAFT
5/2 - Deadline to exercise fifth year option. This is good, since they can hold off on picking up the option on Fields until they figure out what direction they take.
2/22 - clubs may begin to designate Franchise/Transition tags
2/27-3/4 - NFL Scouting Combine (also includes 6 Illini)
3/5 - deadline to designate Franchise/Transition tags (Jaylon Johnson likely to be tagged unless they get a deal)
(Last year, the Bears traded the #1 overall to the Panthers on 3/10. So there is a good chance they either trade the pick or trade JF1 around this time)
3/11-3/13 - Free Agent "tampering" period, when the biggest signings typically get announced
3/13 at 3pm CT - League year begins, free agent signings become official
3/24-3/27 - Annual league meetings (another window for The Trade if it's still unknown by now)
4/15 - Offseason workout programs can begin
4/17 - Deadline to time, test, visit, interview or conduct physicals on draft prospects at Halas Hall (in case they go QB with the #1)
4/24 - Deadline for the above at any location
4/25-4/27 NFL DRAFT
5/2 - Deadline to exercise fifth year option. This is good, since they can hold off on picking up the option on Fields until they figure out what direction they take.
The last line in the story is golden. "Don't look now, but there's at least a chance that the former Buckeye returns to Ohio next season as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers."
That is a copy and paste
Maybe after he makes the trip to Ohio to visit Pittsburgh they can head over to Kansas to visit Kansas City.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I'm wholly unconvinced that Williams is destined to be an elite NFL QB
???
The article is from a Bengals fan site. Presume the author is referring to when Pittsburgh plays in Cincinnati next year. Cleveland works too.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
There's a lot of similarity with Mahomes coming out of Texas Tech, both in terms of hallucinogenic arm talent, but also a degree of self-confidence that leads to freelancing and frankly doing a lot of dumb stuff outside the structure of the offense. Mahomes threw 29 picks in college, a lot of them of the "what on earth was he thinking?" variety. Williams had better ball security but was also just not running the play that was called a ton of the time. How do you scout that?
It really raises the perpetual question of what would have happened if the Bears had taken Mahomes and forced him to play right away as opposed to the pitch-perfect development environment he got instead.
Which then leads to, when they do that with Williams will they ruin him?
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Right. We know how this goes. He's not good enough year 1. His coach and OC get fired. Totally new environment and offense in year 2. It's becoming an endless cycle.
Though Moore and Kmet are vastly superior weapons to what Trubisky or Fields had as rookies.
You take a step back, and there are really 6 QB's who could be the one Ryan Poles chose to build around: Justin Fields, Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels.
Where will the one he chooses wind up ranking out of those 6?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I cheer for the classic "instate template" of teams (Cubs, Illini, Bears, Bulls ... Blackhawks to the extent I follow any hockey), but my true passion lies with the Cubs and the Illini. All this is to say, I watch Bears games but don't really follow them in my free time like I (clearly) do with the Illini here. So, can anybody give me the super simplified version of where the Bears stand with a new stadium?
I was initially a supporter of staying at Solider Field due to its cool location and my distaste for the trend of professional sports teams moving to sprawling suburbs instead of adding another cool element to the city center. However, three things have started to change my opinion:
1. I am not sure I ever truly appreciated how "new" Soldier Field is to Bears history, in the grand scheme of things.
2. I have come to the depressing conclusion that whatever history Soldier Field once had, the renovation really did AT BEST tarnish it greatly. On that same note, the beautiful architecture you can see from LSD while driving buy is not visible at all during your in-game experience, during which it simply looks like a bland, strangely proportioned modern stadium.
3. The benefit of having a (hopefully retractable) dome in the Chicago Area and therefore allowing us to host Final Fours and/or Elite Eights is a pretty cool perk, especially as an Illini fan.
I was initially a supporter of staying at Solider Field due to its cool location and my distaste for the trend of professional sports teams moving to sprawling suburbs instead of adding another cool element to the city center. However, three things have started to change my opinion:
1. I am not sure I ever truly appreciated how "new" Soldier Field is to Bears history, in the grand scheme of things.
2. I have come to the depressing conclusion that whatever history Soldier Field once had, the renovation really did AT BEST tarnish it greatly. On that same note, the beautiful architecture you can see from LSD while driving buy is not visible at all during your in-game experience, during which it simply looks like a bland, strangely proportioned modern stadium.
3. The benefit of having a (hopefully retractable) dome in the Chicago Area and therefore allowing us to host Final Fours and/or Elite Eights is a pretty cool perk, especially as an Illini fan.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I remain very convinced that Arlington Park is a 100% settled certainty and everything else that is now going on is a play for leverage by the team to squeeze public money out of Arlington Heights.
There's no way to make a deal both the team and the city can live with financially on the lakefront, and I don't think there's a suburb dumb enough to hand the Bears something that beats the parcel they've already purchased at Arlington Park.
I also really believe Arlington Park is a terrible idea though (it's just too remote from the market population core to be an anchor of the area's entertainment scene like in Atlanta or Dallas or LA), so there is part of me tempted to believe the Bears might jump at a different option.
I also have no idea what to think about the new scuttlebutt about the White Sox building a new stadium in the 78 development.
Also, a simple glance at an actuarial table will tell you on any given day we might be saying goodbye to Virginia McCaskey or Jerry Reinsdorf, either of which potentially rips up the whole playbook.
So I guess maybe the answer to the quoted question is "no".
Kansas City, Kansas - Wikipedia
The Bears have been threatening to move out of the City since old man Mayor Daley was office in the 1960s. In fact, they even floated the idea of Arlington Heights way back then.
Just the usual ploy to extort money from taxpayers and to monetize your new stadium site region for more money.
Moving to suburbs is a loser bet for fans. The suburbs never have the vitality of the big city and the transit options and local amenities, etc. And any move to Arlington would further solidify the identity of the Bears as a North Side franchise and not a truly regional one. The Bears were always the North Side franchise and the Cardinals were the South Side franchise. So the Bears never have lost their loyality to one side of town over the others.
The Bears will get their new stadium one way or the other. But one thing you can count on is that money (going to Them) will be the deciding factor and the interest of fans won’t be on the list of decision-making. It never is, anywhere.
As a general matter I agree with you on city vs suburbs for pro teams. However as stunning a site as the lakefront is for an NFL game, Soldier field is uniquely awful to get into and out of, and public transportation is also a non factor. I used to think a move to Arlington would screw south siders the most, but on a Sunday morning, I bet the front door to butt in seat time will be about the same given the parking lot LSD becomes. Plus Arlington Park already has a metra stop. You will lose some scenery but I think Arlington has the potential for a superior fan experience if done right IMHO.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Warren has come out and said it won't be retractable. The cost of maintaining it and the possibility of things going wrong make a permanent dome where they can host events year-round a sounder investment.
I think with a new administration in the city the talks are more genuine, but Arlington Heights is a smidge ahead. Depends on how firm their voters hold on not giving up taxpayer dollars. I also think it could work as an entertainment district. The NW suburbs are decently populated, and there are enough things that have popped up around Schaumburg thanks to Woodfield. If it has what people want year round (like the Rosemont entertainment district), it'll work.
Still, I want them to stay in the city. It's a fool's errand, but I'm hoping they stay on the lakefront with a beautiful new stadium. If they get the city to throw in better/more consistent transit routes that let you off directly in front of the stadium instead to make the hike down Roosevelt, even better.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I said the team and city could never make a deal on the lakefront that both can stomach financially. That's not REALLY true of course, and with enough capital and vision the whole Museum Campus/Soldier Field/Northerly Island/McCormick Place/South Loop could be a tourism/culture/entertainment hub of the city. It already is in a way, just horribly disconnected despite all being right next to each other.
The McCaskey's (and the Reinsdorf's who are increasingly a player in this) are small-minded even by the comically low bar of American pro sports owners though, so unfortunately that seems like a pipe dream.
The Bears don't need to be along the lakefront any more. There are land sites South of Madison Street and along the Stevenson begging for redevelopment that are large parccels that used to accommodate industry. The Bears can place themselves in a centralized regional area of Chicagoland... stay within City limits... and create a thriving neighborhood from one that is now suffering fron neglect from off-shoring of jobs.
But that's assumming the Bears have the best interest of the CIty and the future in mind. (Chortling can begin now...).
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Name one that could accommodate a 70k seat facility and the related transportation demands.
Mahomes was also in a throwing system and the Texas Tech D was one of the worst in the nation during that time. The two seasons Mahomes was the full time starter they were top 5 in scoring offense and bottom 5 in scoring defense. Mahomes averaged well over 40 pass attempts a game, Williams just under 30 attempts/game in career. Mahomes worked some miracles but those were not good teams.
At the time, most people were shocked that the Chiefs traded up to #10 to pick Mahomes. Williams has been the clear cut favorite to go #1 for well over a year. As a NFL fan in general, I want to see the Bears land a franchise QB once in my lifetime. Whether that be this year or another will be seen.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
In that case, I really hope we go with one of the newer dome designs that lets the roof flood in some natural light. The transition from a true dome to the trend of a large window in the end zones to a fully transparent ceiling is breathtaking for me in how much it makes my hatred for domes subside a bit:
Don't Like
Improvement
Actually ... Not Bad for a Dome
Like Mahomes' defense, USC's defense put Williams in a lot of situations where they couldn't afford to punt. I think it's also part of what makes Mahomes so great now. Too many of these "great QB prospects" were on great college teams. They never had to struggle and rarely had to make a late drive to win a game. Williams and Mahomes were constantly in games in college where they were trading haymakers.Mahomes was also in a throwing system and the Texas Tech D was one of the worst in the nation during that time. The two seasons Mahomes was the full time starter they were top 5 in scoring offense and bottom 5 in scoring defense. Mahomes averaged well over 40 pass attempts a game, Williams just under 30 attempts/game in career. Mahomes worked some miracles but those were not good teams.
At the time, most people were shocked that the Chiefs traded up to #10 to pick Mahomes. Williams has been the clear cut favorite to go #1 for well over a year. As a NFL fan in general, I want to see the Bears land a franchise QB once in my lifetime. Whether that be this year or another will be seen.
Mahomes doesn't blink when he's up against the clock and his team needs points. I think his time at TT really helped him develop a calmness in close games that QB's that went to Alabama, or perhaps... Ohio State rarely had to utilize. Then they get to the NFL, where every game is a dog fight, especially because you probably aren't on a great team, and they get tight...
South Ashland Avenue south of Stevenson (around 3200 South).
South Kedzie around 31st Street.
35th Street area east of Ashland.
All right off the Stevenson and along the Orange Line.
Any of these can be redeveloped from what is there now and greatly improve the area.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
I agree with the natural light. Warren's last project, US Bank, ain't half bad either with natural light and a great view of the skyline from inside the stadium.In that case, I really hope we go with one of the newer dome designs that lets the roof flood in some natural light. The transition from a true dome to the trend of a large window in the end zones to a fully transparent ceiling is breathtaking for me in how much it makes my hatred for domes subside a bit:
Don't Like
Improvement
Actually ... Not Bad for a Dome
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