New Kevin Warren Letter Barely Hides His Endgame For Bears Stadium

When Ted Phillips remained team president for the Chicago Bears, everything seemed set in motion. The Chicago Bears had purchased the 326 acres of land held by Arlington Racecourse International. This was a huge move that everybody knew would result in an eventual new stadium for the organization. However, leadership changes can often have unexpected consequences. Kevin Warren replaced the retiring Phillips a few months ago as the new president. Almost immediately after that, talks with Arlington Heights on the stadium front grinded to a halt.

The two sides weren't budging on property tax incentives. Warren felt the local parties weren't being fair. As a result, he began accepting meetings with other interested locations, such as Waukegan, Aurora, and Naperville. The biggest twist arrived when Warren and new Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson released a cryptic joint statement saying the two sides had engaged in serious talks about a potential new stadium downtown. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog added some spice to it by revealing Johnson was pushing hard behind the scenes to convince Warren that a city solution is possible.

That trend has continued.

Warren sent a letter to season ticket holders ahead of opening day against the Green Bay Packers. He talked about his goal to establish a brand new indoor stadium with the intent of making it the class of the NFL and being able to host multiple other sporting events year-round. When his speech shifted to a possible location, the paragraph was dominated by one possibility.

"Over the last several months we re-engaged with the City of Chicago, and we are thankful for the vision Mayor Brandon Johnson and his leadership team have provided during our discussions regarding the Chicago Bears remaining in Chicago. We also have remained engaged with officials in Arlington Heights and other suburban locations to discuss the possibility of realizing our plan."

Throughout the rest of the letter, he would use the word "Chicagoland" four different times.

Kevin Warren seems dead set on keeping the Bears in Chicago.

Maybe that's too much speculation, but every sign up to this point suggests that is the objective he's shooting for. The potential benefits are obvious. It would make Bears fans happy, keeping their team in the city where they've played for most of their existence. Chances for revenue streams are much higher in the downtown area than in the suburbs. Warren is also smart enough to know he'd find a man ready to negotiate in Mayor Johnson. Lori Lightfoot was the one who bungled the Bears' Soldier Field controversy. Imagine the political prestige it would bring if he cleaned up her mess by keeping the Bears in the city. That would virtually guarantee his re-election.

It's no wonder he has pressed Kevin Warren that both sides can find a solution. We already know the new Bears team president thinks big. He's the one who pushed the construction of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota, still one of the most revered buildings in the league. He also kickstarted the conference expansion wars in college football by luring USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. Simply moving forward on Arlington Height doesn't fit his style. For someone as ambitious as him, building a state-of-the-art facility inside the city limits feels right.