Good morning, Bears fans!
It’s never nice seeing the words “slag heap” in a headline alongside the “Bears” … but at least this time it’s not an article about their offense.
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— Kevin Kaduk
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01 Stadium News
Hammond environment takes center stage
Now we’re getting dirty. Tuesday didn’t feature a lot of stadium movement, but it did have Arlington Heights mayor Jim Tinaglia questioning the environmental feasibility of the site in Hammond and getting a big Tribune article out of it.
Why is this a thing at this point? It’s not like the oil refineries and slag mountains were dropped there over night. The site at Wolf Lake has always had plenty of question marks, starting with what one might find in the soil, water and air.
02 Roster News
Bears host CB Nazeeh Johnson
The former Kansas City Chief is getting a tryout from the Bears, Jordan Schultz reports. Johnson played 29 games for Kansas City after being selected in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. The next Nashon Wright?
02 NFL News
Event Dates Confirmed
The league formally approved the 2028 NFL Draft in Minneapolis and the 2030 Super Bowl in Nashville.
1️⃣1️⃣6️⃣ Days Until The Season Opener
“I've spoken to the governor recently. I think there's a focus on trying to get something done there and then they’ll have two viable sites that the team can make their decision from.”
Get Ready For More International Trips
(Photo by Kevin Kaduk)
If you’ve never seen the Bears play overseas, just wait.
You’re going to have plenty of chances.
TL;DR 👇
NFL owners approved an increase to 10 international games in 2027 during Tuesday’s league meeting, up from nine in 2026.
Ten games is the max allowed by the CBA, but it doesn’t include the game the Jaguars arranged separately to play in Wembley (so the total is really 11).
Roger Goodell eventually wants to play 16 games off American soil.
Teams will no longer be able to “protect” two games from their home schedule.
This news doesn’t come as a surprise. The NFL has brought every corner of the United States under its control, so it was only a matter of time until it got aggressive overseas.
What’s surprising is how quickly this has escalated in the last five years or so.
🌎 The Evolution of International Games 🏈
Years | Games Played | Locations |
|---|---|---|
2007-12 | 1 | 🏴 |
2013 | 2 | 🏴 |
2014-15 | 3 | 🏴 |
2016 | 4 | 🏴 🇲🇽 |
2017 | 5 | 🏴 🇲🇽 |
2018 | 3 | 🏴 |
2019 | 5 | 🏴 🇲🇽 |
2020 | 0 | COVID-19 |
2021 | 2 | 🏴 |
2022-24 | 5 | 🏴 🇲🇽 🇩🇪 🇧🇷 |
2025 | 7 | 🏴 🇩🇪 🇧🇷 🇮🇪 🇪🇸 |
2026 | 9 | 🏴 🇲🇽 🇩🇪 🇧🇷 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 🇦🇺 |
My take
It’s clear Goodell wants this expansion — and all the additional revenue that comes with it — to be one of his legacy markers.
As someone who ranks the 2024 London trip among my favorite sports experiences, I don’t mind the Bears going overseas more often than they have.
In fact, they’ve played only three games since 2011.
We’re now well into the territory of more than half the teams having an international game on the schedule this year, which should up the Bears frequency higher than one game every five years or so.
And if the eventual schedule gets to 16 games, that presumably means one international trip per year for every team.
That definitely takes away from the novelty of it all for American fans, but that probably also isn’t really the aim of the NFL here.
Also: I don’t think they’d do this, but I’m also not on board for the NFL breaking protocol and having a division game overseas. You can’t make a fair schedule in which one team gets a home divisional game taken away from them.
But at the rate the NFL is expanding and with the complexities of making a schedule work for everyone, it’s probably only a matter of time before we see that. The only question is how soon?
Bears history in the International Series
Year | Result | Location |
|---|---|---|
2011 | Bears 24, Bucs 18 | 🏴 (Wembley) |
2019 | Raiders 24, Bears 21 | 🏴 (Tottenham) |
2024 | Bears 35, Jaguars 16 | 🏴 (Tottenham) |
Cam Newton put Caleb Williams at No. 7 of his top NFL QBs. (Sleeper)
Dan Wiederer on the Bears’ mission to level up the offense in 2026 (The Athletic)
Nicholas Moreano on Iowa TE Hayden Large (Bears Roundtable)
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