Bears Leave Door Open For New Stadium in Illinois After Latest Statement

The Chicago Bears are 6-2 after defeating the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. The week before, head coach Ben Johnson's team took down the AFC champion New England Patriots in the Thursday night primetime game at Soldier Field. 

Before the team's Week 10 bye week, the Bears will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football. There's plenty of positive momentum going for this team. Caleb Williams is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in football, and general manager Ryan Poles recently traded for All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. 

Well, the Bears know how to kill a good time. The team dropped another update on their stadium situation, continuing the never-ending cycle of news that really isn't newsworthy. 

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell accompanied Bears officials Kevin Warren and George McCaskey to a meeting with Illinois legislative leaders in Chicago. They promised to have continued conversations about a path forward for a stadium in Arlington Heights. 

The Bears released the following statement:

The statement indicates that the team will continue working collaboratively with state leaders in Indiana to advance a stadium development in Hammond, but "at the same time, we appreciate the recent engagement from Illinois leadership to explore legislation which has allowed us to share our feedback. 

We expect productive dialogue with both leadership teams in the coming weeks. We have a responsibility and obligation to explore every option available to the club, and we look forward to developing a transformational project that will attract global events and deliver jobs and economic growth to all of Chicagoland."

Illinois is apparently back in play for the Bears. 

The Bears announced back on June 5, nearly five months from this latest stadium update, that "the Chicago Bears Board of Directors met and voted to advance our stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, with the exact site to be selected. We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.”

That shift at the time came just days after Illinois failed to pass legislation that would provide the Bears with tax certainty, something they have wanted since the beginning. 

According to NBC 5 Chicago's Paris Schutz, Governor Pritzker also added the meeting between Goodell, Warren and McCaskey "was to finalize Stadium Authority legislation - to have it ready to go for Fall Veto session. The plan is to hold hearings late November, with a potential vote the first week of December."

If you just look at the comments under Rapoport's tweet, you can get a good gauge of what Bears fans think of this latest statement from the Bears. 

A lot of people are tired of statements and updates. Bears fans want to see shovels in the ground, something Warren said would happen in 2025. Clearly that wasn't the case and the Bears' pursuit of a stadium location is still ongoing. 

In the meantime, people should ignore anything stadium related and shift their entire focus on the football team that is well on its way to establishing itself as a legitimate Super Bowl contender this season.