Some days we just have to fill the space around here. This is one of those days. Here are some links worth reading.
- Brad Biggs raises an issue one can’t imagine is on the front burner for the Bears right now: re-signing Cairo Santos. (For the record, I can’t see a scenario where Santos is not back but the Bears are trying to solve the most important position in sports. That takes a bit of priority.)
- Albert Breer at SI lays out the most updated franchise tag numbers and explains why teams won’t be rushing to tag players until the salary cap for the 2021 season is settled.
- The quarterback series at The Athletic has been terrific but I’m partial to Adam Jahns’ piece on Jim Miller, one of the more ludicrous figures in Bears’ quarterbacking lore. Miller was once fined a fortune and (I believe) suspended for diet pills. That only happens to one position in sports: Bears QB.
- The Colts have their new starting quarterback. But he won’t be playing with number 11 because of…Michael Pittman? How is that possible? ESPN has the story. (Somewhere, in the deep recesses of Bears twitter, folks are still wrongly arguing the Bears had interest in Wentz. They never made a single offer.)
- Eddie Goldman has told Sean Desai he’ll be returning to the Bears for 2021 – something that was certainly not a foregone conclusion. (This link does not overtly confirm Goldman’s return. But he’s coming back.)
- ACTUAL BEAR STORY: ‘Something bit me’: Woman surprised by bear while using outhouse. (People call it ‘clickbait’ but how exactly would you avoid clicking THAT link?)
- ESPN’s Dan Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham produced a stunning piece of journalism on NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith, one of the more complicated figures in the business of professional sports. Why was Smith so fundamentally opposed to 18 games but open to 17? Why would he allow the franchise tag to continue to exist? Every question you’ve ever had about Smith’s role in the game is addressed in this piece.
