One thing you often find with good NFL teams is their willingness to branch out from just football when trying to find great talent. One such example was the Philadelphia Eagles bringing in Jordan Mailata, who’d been a rugby player. He is now their star left tackle. The Chicago Bears haven’t really done anything like this in their history, preferring the tried-and-true method of finding established football players. Now it appears that might be changing under the new regime led by head coach Ben Johnson.

Word came out on Monday that the Bears have interest in college basketball junior Coen Carr as a possible crossover to the NFL. Carr is a 6’6″ forward for the Michigan State Spartans. His 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists per game helped the team reach the Sweet Sixteen this past season, falling in a close battle to eventual national championship participant UConn. Carr revealed on the I Am Athlete podcast that the Bears approached him about the possibility of playing football.

The Chicago Bears’ approach isn’t crazy.

As of now, Carr’s NBA prospects are decent. Experts project he will likely go somewhere in the late 1st or early 2nd round. They see him as an elite dunker with a rumored 51.5-inch vertical. However, there are concerns about his size. He plays power forward, but at 6’6″, he is far too short for that position in the NBA, and might be borderline for small forward as well. His offensive game doesn’t involve great shooting either. His biggest attributes are explosive dunks and shot-blocking.

Players like him can usually find a steady role in the NBA, but they rarely become stars. By contrast, players of his size with that speed and explosiveness are highly coveted in the NFL. A 6’6″ pass-catcher who can jump out of the gym immediately creates matchup problems. Johnson likes big athletes, so the attraction of Carr is easy to see from his perspective. Besides, it’s not like this is unprecedented. History shows moves like this can pay off huge if handled the right way.

College basketball has a proven pipeline to the NFL.

If you look back at recent history, you’ll find the two linked more often than you think. There are quite a few examples of athletes who were primarily college basketball players who transitioned to the NFL. The most famous example is Antonio Gates. A standout player for Kent State, he’d never played football before. The San Diego Chargers took a gamble on him, and he transformed into a Hall of Fame tight end. Jimmy Graham played only one year of college football, spending most of his time in basketball. He went on to become an All-Pro with the New Orleans Saints. More recently, you have Mo Allie-Cox, who went from VCU power forward to a tight end who just finished his ninth season with the Indianapolis Colts.

It isn’t hard to imagine Carr walking that same path. He has the same attributes as those other players: size, explosiveness, and natural hands for catching a ball. It only takes the willingness to give football a shot. The Chicago Bears have the perfect setup to help a young athlete like him develop. Tight end would be the obvious position of choice. Johnson is an aficionado of such players. If Carr is uncertain about his NBA prospects, then he could have a much brighter future waiting in the NFL.

The Chicago Bears weren’t able to get their new stadium off the ground in 2025 as had been the original plan. This development was part of the reason team president Kevin Warren began entertaining the idea of leaving Illinois for Northwest Indiana. The state’s neighbor has been vocal for months about bringing the founding NFL franchise southeast. They’ve already passed the necessary legislation to provide infrastructure and property tax incentives. At this point, all the Bears have to do is choose a preferred location for construction.

However, things have been stuck in neutral so far this year. Most of that is due to recent talks between the team and Illinois officials. The PILOT bill, which would provide a property tax freeze to give the Bears the certainty they need to build in Arlington Heights, has been stalled in the legislature. No vote has taken place, and patience is wearing thin. It was hinted that the end of May was the final deadline for a decision. However, Adam Schefter dropped a small bombshell on that situation.

It feels like the Chicago Bears are done waiting.

They’ve given Illinois every opportunity to make a decision for the past five years. There have been constant delays and haggling, even though the organization’s offer is far better for the state than other new stadium deals around the league. The Bears have stated they will pay for the construction entirely themselves. All they require is help with building out the infrastructure. Even this isn’t enough for Illinois government members. Many of them feel the team is obligated to pay off the remaining debt on Soldier Field, which is a non-discussion since they already paid their part of the bill years ago. Others don’t want the team to leave Chicago.

Governor J.B. Pritzker has insisted there has been positive momentum towards a resolution that would keep the team in Illinois. Yet, following last month’s vote postponement, the Chicago Bears no longer feel compelled to wait. If there is no sign of a vote in the next few weeks, they will begin the process of moving the franchise to Indiana. Most believe it will be located in Hammond, just under 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. The team has had its eyes on a 340-acre property there for some time.

Rumors have hinted that things are drifting in one direction.

Hammond’s mayor recently stated his firm belief that the Bears are coming to Indiana. The decision is made. What we’re seeing is nothing more than a carefully crafted political process meant to soften the reaction to when it happens. The team wants to make it look like they did everything in their power to work out a deal with Illinois. If true, the state has certainly played its part to perfection by muddying up the process, looking every bit as greedy and indecisive as it has always been.

Fans are fed up with the process and just want a resolution. It feels like nobody would really blame the Bears for choosing the Indiana option at this point. If this was the intention all along, it would go down as a masterful political play. The Bears will get a superior offer to build their stadium and not have to deal with much negative fallout when they leave. Now the only thing left to do is see if the Illinois legislature caves to the pressure and votes on the bill.

It felt like divine intervention. The Chicago Bears needed a left tackle. Ozzy Trapilo had torn up his knee in the playoffs and would miss significant time. The Detroit Lions didn’t want to pay Taylor Decker the rest of his expensive contract and decided to release him. Decker had played the best football of his career under Bears head coach Ben Johnson when he was the Lions’ offensive coordinator. It was the easiest connection in the world to make. All the Bears had to do was make an offer.

That is why it was a surprise when Chicago never seemed to make a serious push for Decker. Instead, they opted to re-sign Braxton Jones to a one-year deal and brought in former 1st-round pick Jedrick Wills to add some competition. People couldn’t understand what happened. Decker was such an obvious bridge solution. Was he demanding too much money? Is he retiring? Answers weren’t forthcoming.

Until now.

Justin Roger of Detroit Collective has delivered inside details on the fallout from Decker’s release by Detroit, including the bitterness involved. Apparently, the left tackle wants to play for a winner, but isn’t wild about the idea of joining the Bears.

“He wants to play for a winner. Yet he’s kind of thinking about, ‘Is it cheap to go win somewhere else after you’ve invested all your energy emotionally and physically into one franchise?’ I will tell you that he’s pretty anti-playing for the Bears or Packers. That’s the Lions background in him. I know Ben Johnson did it and that was the right situation for him, but Taylor feels kind of dirty about the idea. It just isn’t interesting to him. I could see him joining a team mid-season, the further he gets away from football and games being played, injuries happening and the right offer occurs. I could also see him not playing.”

The Taylor Decker situation is heartbreaking.

Here’s a man who dedicated his blood, sweat, and tears to dragging the Lions organization out of the mud and to respectability for the first time in decades. He was there for some dark times in the late 2010s. Yet his consistent, effective play was crucial to their turnaround in 2022, culminating in their run to the NFC Championship in 2023. Decker gave everything he had to the organization. He was rewarded with walking papers and not so much as a phone call from head coach Dan Campbell or GM Brad Holmes.

Yet even now, he can’t help but feel loyal to the organization. He spent a decade hating the Bears and Packers for obvious reasons. The three teams were eternally at odds in their efforts to win the division. That breeds inevitable resentment. Simply shrugging that off isn’t easy for a lot of players. They buy into an organization’s culture and identity. Sadly, way too often, that loyalty is not reciprocated. It is probably why more players these days are willing to play for rival teams.

Perhaps Johnson’s defection is a little more justified now.

It feels like Decker is closer to retirement at this point.

The longer he waits to sign with another team, the more likely it seems he doesn’t play in 2026. Maybe he changes his mind. The pull of football is always strong, and maybe an opportunity to join a Super Bowl-ready team opens up. Either way, it’s clear that the idea of him coming to Chicago is now dead. The Bears have already enacted a new plan. Jones and Wills were the first step. Some wonder whether the team may pursue another option in the draft, especially given that Trapilo’s long-term health is uncertain.

Taylor Decker deserves a better end to his career if this is it. He gave everything he had to that organization in Detroit. This treatment feels too close to what the Bears did with Brian Urlacher 13 years ago. It’s bad karma, if nothing else. Here is hoping he gets the last laugh in some way. Maybe he might change his mind about joining a rival. Coach Johnson has a magnetic pull on players. Getting a second chance to play in this offense might be the lure needed.

At the NFL Owners Meetings in Arizona last week, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles hinted that he and Matt Feinstein (cap guru) are already working on basic frameworks and planning a potential extension for QB Caleb Williams.

While Caleb isn’t eligible for an extension until after the 2026 season, the Bears can never start planning too early. After all, they have to decide how they’ll attack the roster the rest of this offseason, extensions for other players (i.e. RT Darnell Wright) and future seasons. They need to know what they’re working with, both with a Williams extension on the books and off the books.

That said, I tweeted this in response:

For some context, I strongly believe NFL teams get bullied into extending quarterbacks who aren’t actual needle-movers because of either a) fear of the unknown, or b) fan pressure.

Quarterbacks like Tua Tagovailoa, who never once in his life demonstrated franchise QB capability, signed a major extension in Miami a couple years ago and it torpedoed their current state. He’s now trying to rescue his career on a minor deal in Atlanta.

Jalen Hurts – another limited QB (albeit Super Bowl winner thanks to an elite roster) – not only signed a major extension but has Philadelphia Eagles fans frothing at the mouth to defend him. Yet, he’s another guy who is starting to get the Carson Wentz treatment from the team.

And like those guys, there are many others who have received similar extensions. (Daniel Jones is suddenly commanding ridiculous money… why?)

I want to be clear: Caleb Williams is NOT those guys. He has already achieved ceilings higher than they’ll ever reach AND has so much more room to grow. His pairing with Ben Johnson is one of the highest-potential pairings the league has ever seen. But that’s just it — it’s still potential.

Before the Bears pay him, they need to see it materialize. Like I said in my tweet, I think he has every tool in the box and his growth in the 2H of the season was incredible. The Bears’ offense was explosive and dangerous WITHOUT hitting so many of the gimmes that good offenses usually hit.

Ben Johnson said at the owners meetings that he counted at least 40 throws (not including drops or throwaways) that he wanted Caleb to have back just to get his completion percentage to 65%. If he completes those 40, on an average of ~15 yards per completion, that’s 600 additional yards of offense over the course of the season. Six hundred yards.

Just imagine. I’m certainly excited to see Caleb take that next step. And when he does, THEN back up the Brink’s truck.