2020-21 NFL Season

[Vander Blue Man Group]

It would be a nice by product of a retractable roof stadium to get rid of the silly notion of “Bear Weather”.

The meatball fans will hate it, the city people that hate the suburbs will be mad, but for the other 90% of Bear fans it would be great. Soldier Field is brutal to get to, the re-design has great sightlines, but there’s no charm that will go missing. There’s a Metra stop already outside Arlington as well.

What will be interesting (to me at least) is if Reinsdorf makes a play for Arlington. It hasn’t been brought up much (that I know of), but the Sox sweetheart lease deal is up in 2029 (4 years before the Bears lease is up). I don’t know who will be owning either team (Bears/Sox) at the end of this decade, but both teams stadium situations bear watching.

Pretty sure your 90% estimation is WAY overshooting the amount of people that would think it would be great. 

[The Lens]

I've done client entertaining + events + media production at both Lambeau and Soldier.  It's night and day.  The Packers visiting locker room is twice as nice as the Bears home locker room.  The amenities for sponsors is very much lacking at Soldier.  As a team sponsor you want to be able to activate beyond just the sponsor sign.  Lambeau offers so much more.  It's Green Bay's home 365 days a year.  The Bears have Soldier for 10 days a year. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

It would be a nice by product of a retractable roof stadium to get rid of the silly notion of “Bear Weather”.

The meatball fans will hate it, the city people that hate the suburbs will be mad, but for the other 90% of Bear fans it would be great. Soldier Field is brutal to get to, the re-design has great sightlines, but there’s no charm that will go missing. There’s a Metra stop already outside Arlington as well.

What will be interesting (to me at least) is if Reinsdorf makes a play for Arlington. It hasn’t been brought up much (that I know of), but the Sox sweetheart lease deal is up in 2029 (4 years before the Bears lease is up). I don’t know who will be owning either team (Bears/Sox) at the end of this decade, but both teams stadium situations bear watching.

LOL @ only 10% of Bears fans falling into either meatball or city-dwelling buckets. Gonna go with like 60%+ falling into at least one of those categories (with a lot of venn diagram overlap obviously)

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Yea put me into the “suburban-hating city boy” category.

It takes me 15-20 minutes to get to solder field and nearly an hour to get to Arlington Heights and I live on the far north side. That also doesn’t take into account the four block walk I have to the red line.

Also there’s no way Arlington Heights would be more convenient for anybody who lives south of the loop

[Warrior Code]

Is moving the Bears to the 'burbs something that has been seriously discussed/considered by the owners, or is this just speculation on a message board?

[DegenerateDish]

Pretty sure your 90% estimation is WAY overshooting the amount of people that would think it would be great.

92% of Bears season ticket holders do not live in Chicago proper (at least as of 2018, can’t imagine that percentage has changed greatly).

[MU82]

I've done client entertaining + events + media production at both Lambeau and Soldier.  It's night and day.  The Packers visiting locker room is twice as nice as the Bears home locker room.  The amenities for sponsors is very much lacking at Soldier.  As a team sponsor you want to be able to activate beyond just the sponsor sign.  Lambeau offers so much more.  It's Green Bay's home 365 days a year.  The Bears have Soldier for 10 days a year.

Lambeau is a football temple.

Soldier Field used to be a dump. Now it's just OK.

[JWags85]

Yea put me into the “suburban-hating city boy” category.

It takes me 15-20 minutes to get to solder field and nearly an hour to get to Arlington Heights and I live on the far north side. That also doesn’t take into account the four block walk I have to the red line.

Also there’s no way Arlington Heights would be more convenient for anybody who lives south of the loop

How does it only take you 15 min to get to Soldier Field?  I lived literally across the street from the Red Line in Old Town and it was 30 min+.  Soldier Field is literally nowhere near any public transit. 

The only people from the North Side, aka North of the River, that can get to Soldier Field in 15 min are those who are less than 5 min (once they get in the car) from Lake Shore Drive.  Certainly not any public transit

[DegenerateDish]

LOL @ only 10% of Bears fans falling into either meatball or city-dwelling buckets. Gonna go with like 60%+ falling into at least one of those categories (with a lot of venn diagram overlap obviously)

I was referring to what I know/knew of the season ticket holder base (from a few years ago). Yes, there are way more meatball fans and city dwelling fans (and they cross over).

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

How does it only take you 15 min to get to Soldier Field?  I lived literally across the street from the Red Line in Old Town and it was 30 min+.  Soldier Field is literally nowhere near any public transit. 

The only people from the North Side, aka North of the River, that can get to Soldier Field in 15 min are those who are less than 5 min (once they get in the car) from Lake Shore Drive.  Certainly not any public transit

My apologies. I meant driving distance is 15 minutes. I am one of those few who live less than 5 minutes from a LSD ramp.

(Not that I would ever pay for parking, I do quite enjoy the walk under the drive to the stadium)

[Pakuni]

Yea put me into the “suburban-hating city boy” category.

It takes me 15-20 minutes to get to solder field and nearly an hour to get to Arlington Heights and I live on the far north side. That also doesn’t take into account the four block walk I have to the red line.

Also there’s no way Arlington Heights would be more convenient for anybody who lives south of the loop

There is a Metra station at Arlington Park. Taking the train to a station literally a few hundred yards from the front gate would be pretty convenient.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

There is a Metra station at Arlington Park. Taking the train to a station literally a few hundred yards from the front gate would be pretty convenient.

Line doesn’t connect for me. Have to go into the city to get back out of the city.

Admittedly though, The northwest burbs are far and away the least convenient place for me to get to. I get the sentiment, but selfishly it is the WORST commute from where I am.

I’m far enough away from I-90 to where it doesn’t make sense to go out of my way to get on the highway, metro lines don’t connect, so I end up having to take northwest highway/Rand or 94 to Willow all the way up there.

[Pakuni]

The Bears are cutting Charles Leno and making Teven Jenkins their LT.
So, they drafted a guy who played RT the great majority of his college career and are going to immediately pencil him on the left side before even seeing him in rookie or mini camp.
RIP Andy Dalton.

[Pakuni]

Line doesn’t connect for me. Have to go into the city to get back out of the city.

If you're up on the north side, it can't be that hard to get to Jefferson Park or Irving Park.

[JWags85]

The Bears are cutting Charles Leno and making Teven Jenkins their LT.
So, they drafted a guy who played RT the great majority of his college career and are going to immediately pencil him on the left side before even seeing him in rookie or mini camp.
RIP Andy Dalton.

Not defending Pace, cause he hasnt done much to deserve it, but he was quoted as saying they see Jenkins potential as an LT right after they drafted him on Saturday. 

They desperately need the cap space, so I get it, but man they just cycle through OLs

[DegenerateDish]

I mentioned it in a previous post, but should expand on it here too. Don't underestimate the political play here, as the Bears moving to Arlington Heights would have an enormous domino effect. I personally believe that if the city is still hellbent on a downtown casino (I'm fairly confident they are), the Bears moving should open up perhaps the most ideal spot for this casino location.

I'm not a real estate expert or lawyer, but I would think the city would still own the land at Soldier Field, and then build a casino and lease it out to whomever (?). There's more intelligent people that can speak to this than I can. My point being that coveted land in Chicago is expensive and tough to come by, and the city would already be able to lay claim here.

Parking structures are already in place, and of course, it's close enough to McCormick Place, which seems to be a major point for the city.

I don't know who would pay for the new Bears stadium (that's the billion(s) dollar question), but losing the Bears may be good financially for the city (?).

[Vander Blue Man Group]

The Bears are cutting Charles Leno and making Teven Jenkins their LT.
So, they drafted a guy who played RT the great majority of his college career and are going to immediately pencil him on the left side before even seeing him in rookie or mini camp.
RIP Andy Dalton.

Not a fan of this and surprised Leno was cut instead of Graham, despite Graham being effective in the red zone last year. 

[MDMU04]

Is moving the Bears to the 'burbs something that has been seriously discussed/considered by the owners, or is this just speculation on a message board?

There was talk of them moving to the suburbs prior to the renovation of Soldier Field in 2001.  The McCaskeys signed an agreement to move the Bears to Gary, Indiana back in the mid 1990s before their last lease at Soldier Field expired in 1999.  The deal for Lake County, IN to build them a stadium fell through, and now we're stuck with the tiny atrocity on the lakeshore where the Bears play now.

The Bears have never owned the building they play in.  The Bears aren't owned by a family like the Ricketts or Reinsdorfs.  Unlike them, the McCaskey family has no independent wealth or business interests beyond the Bears. I cannot imagine them being willing to expand their costs enough to accommodate building and maintaining their own stadium.  They would probably have to liquidate a significant portion of their ownership stake in the team to raise the cash to build, and I am fairly certain they would never do that.

The Bears and White Sox had their current stadiums built for them by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.  I seriously doubt the ISFA will have the appetite to build the Bears another stadium, especially when they already own the building the Bears currently play in and are more than $450 million in debt from building Comiskey Park and Soldier Field.  Illinois also happens to have the worst fiscal situation out of all 50 states, and it is not getting better any time soon...so public financing is probably out of the question as well.

So unless Ken Griffin or the Pritzker family would be willing to spend a billion dollars to build and operate a stadium for the Bears without the McCaskeys having to sell them a significant ownership stake in the team, I believe they'll be in 61,000 seat Soldier Field until the place falls apart.

[Warrior Code]

There was talk of them moving to the suburbs prior to the renovation of Soldier Field in 2001.  The McCaskeys signed an agreement to move the Bears to Gary, Indiana back in the mid 1990s before their last lease at Soldier Field expired in 1999.  The deal for Lake County, IN to build them a stadium fell through, and now we're stuck with the tiny atrocity on the lakeshore where the Bears play now.

The Bears have never owned the building they play in.  The Bears aren't owned by a family like the Ricketts or Reinsdorfs.  Unlike them, the McCaskey family has no independent wealth or business interests beyond the Bears. I cannot imagine them being willing to expand their costs enough to accommodate building and maintaining their own stadium.  They would probably have to liquidate a significant portion of their ownership stake in the team to raise the cash to build, and I am fairly certain they would never do that.

The Bears and White Sox had their current stadiums built for them by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.  I seriously doubt the ISFA will have the appetite to build the Bears another stadium, especially when they already own the building the Bears currently play in and are more than $450 million in debt from building Comiskey Park and Soldier Field.  Illinois also happens to have the worst fiscal situation out of all 50 states, and it is not getting better any time soon...so public financing is probably out of the question as well.

So unless Ken Griffin or the Pritzker family would be willing to spend a billion dollars to build and operate a stadium for the Bears without the McCaskeys having to sell them a significant ownership stake in the team, I believe they'll be in 61,000 seat Soldier Field until the place falls apart.

Thanks for the info

[Pakuni]

Not defending Pace, cause he hasnt done much to deserve it, but he was quoted as saying they see Jenkins potential as an LT right after they drafted him on Saturday. 

They desperately need the cap space, so I get it, but man they just cycle through OLs

I get that. I'm just saying it's a big risk to stick a second-round pick at LT from day one, much less one who spent most of his college career on the right side. Especially when you haven't even seen the kid in camp. It's one thing for a rookie to come in and earn the job by beating out a veteran, but handing it over without a hint of competition seems odd.

[MU82]

Panthers are all-in on Sam Darnold.

Not only did they pass on Fields and Jones in the draft, but they picked up Darnold's $18.9 million option for the 2022 season.

They also drafted several skill-position players to make plays for him, and a couple of offensive linemen to block for him.

According to The Athletic, the Panthers are betting that a change of scenery and the Joe Brady offense will help Darnold enjoy a career resurgence. “We brought Sam here because we believe he can win for us,” Rhule said. “When we look at him over his last three years, we see a guy with tons of potential. We see a guy that we think in our situation, in our offense is gonna do really good things.”

I hope like heck they're right.

The Panthers did sign Northwestern QB Peyton Ramsey as an undrafted free agent to compete for the backup job.

[Jockey]

According to The Athletic, the Panthers are betting that a change of scenery and the Joe Brady offense will help Darnold enjoy a career resurgence. “We brought Sam here because we believe he can win for us,” Rhule said. “When we look at him over his last three years, we see a guy with tons of potential. We see a guy that we think in our situation, in our offense is gonna do really good things.”

How do you enjoy a resurgence when you haven't even surged yet?

But, I thought Darnold was better than he looked when playing for the Jets. Hope it works out.

[MU82]

How do you enjoy a resurgence when you haven't even surged yet?

But, I thought Darnold was better than he looked when playing for the Jets. Hope it works out.

Great point on "resurgence." It's one of those overused, meaningless words, like "consistent."

Lots of athletes who are bad at what they do actually are VERY consistent. Consistently bad. I think Darnold was one of them with the Jets! Hoping the change of scenery makes a difference.

[tower912]

Time to start the 21-22 thread.

[PGsHeroes32]

Panthers are all-in on Sam Darnold.

Not only did they pass on Fields and Jones in the draft, but they picked up Darnold's $18.9 million option for the 2022 season.

They also drafted several skill-position players to make plays for him, and a couple of offensive linemen to block for him.

According to The Athletic, the Panthers are betting that a change of scenery and the Joe Brady offense will help Darnold enjoy a career resurgence. “We brought Sam here because we believe he can win for us,” Rhule said. “When we look at him over his last three years, we see a guy with tons of potential. We see a guy that we think in our situation, in our offense is gonna do really good things.”

I hope like heck they're right.

The Panthers did sign Northwestern QB Peyton Ramsey as an undrafted free agent to compete for the backup job.

How good he ultimately is definitely remains to be seen. But I think we will see massive improvement in a new spot from him.

Jets handled that terribly. And will be funny if Wilson ends up a bust.