When Kevin Warren arrived as the Chicago Bears‘ new team president, it was reported that his ultimate goal was to become the NFL Commissioner. He’d already been Big Ten commissioner and now wanted to take the final step to the highest position of power in all of football. Chicago offered him the opportunity to grow his resume. So try to imagine the humiliation that the league’s current commissioner, Roger Goodell, has become so fed up with the job you’ve done that he decided to go over your head to try fixing the Bears’ stadium situation.
That is what Shia Kapos of Politico revealed on August 14th. Goodell has apparently met personally with select Illinois lawmakers in an effort to break the deadlock.
NFL insider Mike Florio added more to this, stating that such a move makes it obvious that Hammond, Indiana has always been leverage by the Bears to get more concessions on the Arlington Heights location. That or the possibility they stay in Chicago. However, Goodell and the league have grown tired of the delay and have decided to step in.
“The news highlights the reality that Hammond is the leverage to get something done in Arlington Heights or, possibly, Chicago. If the Bears were going to build something in Hammond, the process would have started by now. Especially since, as Warren said Thursday, the projected cost is increasing by $150 million per year.
So maybe, in the end, the Bears won’t leave Illinois. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll find a solution in Chicago.”
Kevin Warren has failed.
Despite his insistence that he doesn’t believe the organization has made any mistakes in the negotiation process, the facts tell a very different story. Other NFL teams launched their own new stadium initiatives after the Bears did in 2021. Most of them are already on track to start construction shortly or have already begun. The Bears are nowhere close to getting shovels in the ground. Their latest press conference was more of the same nonsense. Insisting they are conducting a thorough process, while reports continue showing how disjointed everything is.
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That starts with Kevin Warren. He was supposed to be the stadium guru. He’d spent years with the Minnesota Vikings and was supposedly instrumental in getting U.S. Bank Stadium built. Yet every indication since he took over suggests that was a massive overestimation. Warren’s actions during this saga speak of a man whose mouth loves to write checks he can’t cash. He hires lobbyists to help him with talks in Springfield and doesn’t bother listening to their advice. He jumps at the Hammond idea without realizing that much of the land in the area is either industrial waste or environmentally protected.
One truth remains impossible to escape.
If the Indiana offer was as sweet as people down there continue to insist it is, the Bears would’ve jumped at it long ago. Florio is most likely correct. The franchise prefers to build in Arlington Heights as originally planned. They own the property and have done all the research. It is a perfect place to build. What they need is property tax certainty and infrastructure support. Unfortunately, you have to negotiate with the state government to get both, and Illinois is notorious for being highly fractious politically.
Warren was woefully unprepared for the challenge facing him. This entire process exposed him as someone who talks way bigger than he walks. Goodell stepping in should tell you everything you need to know. The league is tired of Warren fumbling the talks and has decided to try helping things along. The NFL has tons of political stroke around the country. They can probably call in a few favors to nudge this thing over the finish line.
Bears fans would certainly be grateful. They’re just tired of it all at this point.
