The Chicago Bears are entering one of their most hyped seasons in recent memory. Chicago finished the 2023 season with a 7-10 record that could have easily been eight or nine wins. The team is now significantly better, replacing Justin Fields with rookie QB Caleb Williams and a host of other weapons and talented players. Bears fans have also been eagerly following the team's push to construct a new stadium in the Windy City.
The Bears received a discouraging update on this front today from the Illinois government. According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker recently said that there's little to no chance that a deal on the team's new stadium will happen this year.
“I made it clear to the Bears leadership that it would be near impossible to get anything done — if there was a proposal put on the table that could get done, you couldn’t actually get it done, probably, during the veto session and would have to wait until next spring,” Pritzker said on Monday. “But in reality, there isn’t a proposal on the table right now that would be acceptable to anyone that I know in the legislature.”
This is discouraging news for the Bears. Earlier this summer, team CEO Kevin Warren called the summer and fall “critically important” to the stadium effort.
It will be interesting to see what happens next in this saga. The Bears have flirted with moving the team's stadium to neighboring suburbs, likely to build leverage on constructing their proposed stadium. Thus far, that tactic has not been effective in convincing taxpayers to shell out money for the new stadium.
Soldier Field will have to do for now.
The Chicago Bears are gearing up to play the Houston Texans in the 2024 Hall of Fame Game
Fans of the Chicago Bears do not have to wait long at all before seeing their team in action again. In fact, the Bears play the Texans this week in the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame game.
The first preseason game of the year always takes place a week before any other games. The event will honor a new class of player entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It will also feature some of the league's most talented young players on a primetime stage.
Bears fans will get their first look at rookie QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze. They will face off against another young star in C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans.
Expect Williams and Odunze to get a small amount of work in the game, likely just the first drive. Chicago will want to give fans something to get excited about, but they won't want to risk an injury so close to the regular season.
For what it's worth, Williams wants to be out there getting valuable reps.
“I always think there's more pros than cons in anything, especially for a young guy like myself,” Williams said, via NFL.com. “The reps are always paramount for anybody like myself, a young rookie, a second-year guy, a third-year guy, it's paramount. It's really important and we'll see about these preseason games coming, how they will play out.”
The game kicks off on Thursday night at 8PM ET in Canton, Ohio.
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