These Chicago Bears will benefit the most and least from no preseason
“Be careful what you wish for…” — That old saying finally came back to bite us. For years upon end, NFL fans and Chicago Bears fans alike have verbally petitioned for the shortening of preseason games, assuming we watched all four of them in the first place.
On Wednesday, the NFL Players Association and team owners agreed to both scrap the entire preseason. That much, we already knew. But selfishly, one of my first thoughts thereafter was … does this hurt or help the Bears in their attempt to return to the postseason?
Depending on the circumstances, there’s a story to be told for both sides. In the short-term, it probably helps that this year’s Bears aren’t trying to implement a ton of new draftees into their base lineup, or even that they weren’t expecting a ton of their rookies to become game-breakers in Year 1.
On the flip side, it means that some of those unheralded players don’t even receive a chance to prove themselves in an NFL game before being cut. And that’s worrisome because, in every NFL preseason, some sort of little-known player becomes a hot commodity for a few weeks — think Brett Hundley, or 2010 Victor Cruz. It’s been seven years, and I still remember thinking Jon Bostic would become a star linebacker after this hit.
Rambling aside, both sides make a ton of sense. There’s an argument that Matt Nagy-coached teams are built for such a strange offseason. And on the other side, the masses believe this puts a damper on the Bears’ QB battle.
Over the next few weeks, new takes and thoughts will circulate. But as for now, here are a few winners and losers of the preseason cancellation among the Chicago Bears’ brass.