Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - 5 On It & Kevin Fishbain talks Bears (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

In the third hour, Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote discussed a variety of sports topics in the 5 On It segment. After that, Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic joined the show to discuss which Bears could be salary cap casualties and to preview NFL free agency. Later, Grote shared what he learned in attending a Bears stadium rally in Arlington Heights recently.

It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3, the score. I got five on it. Number one. All right, we got one for all the Maxenistas out there. On Monday, ESPN proposed a blockbuster trade between the Bears and the Raiders.

In this scenario, Chicago would send receiver DJ more in a 2026 first round pick to Las Vegas for pass, Russia, Max, Crosby, and a 2027. fifth round pick, would you be on board with this move? Okay, so number one, I would like to say things to everybody who watched Chicago Sports Tonight on Sunday. It was Chris Bleck, who's now our coworker, and it's still weird for us to say. We all freak out on the Odyssey Sports Minutes because we're like, wait a second, Chris Blake doesn't work with us. Yes, he does. He's at Westwood One. He was at another place for a long time. Shout out to Chris Boyle. Yeah, and everybody's always like, no, I don't listen to you guys. 1,000.

We got the numbers. We know. And we stole Chris Black and Adam Abdullah. So go us. And there was a fight about the Max Crosby discussion. And the question was, would it take more than two first round picks? And then people got passionate in the comments, as I saw. Because I like to read because sometimes there's something you miss, you know, and people talk about stuff.

And that's how you try to fill in the gaps. People have questions that I don't always have. So they were like, Lila was saying three draft picks. No, I wasn't, not necessarily. It's something along the lines of what Bill Barnwell discussed. There are position players of value to the Raiders. DJ Moore could be one of them. Other bears, you know, and they have a rich, vast wealth at certain positions.

Like, I don't know, tight end. I'm just saying there are other positions where the bears have a plethora of people. And so it might not be just draft picks, might not be just, first rounders might be a combination of assets. That's what I was kind of getting at here. I don't think it's a one for one. This was the Micah Parsons deal, so therefore it would be Max Crosby. So I just want to get that out there. Thanks to everybody who is so passionate about it. But unless I say three draft picks, that's not necessarily what I mean. It sounds like it could work. But at the end of the day, DJ Moore is also making 28.5 million.

Now, DJ Moore has years on his contract, and we like to say in the biz, the more years you have, the more you can restructure. But I just don't know if the Raiders want that salary in addition to something else for a return for Crosby. Would it solve a lot of people's problems? Yes. I think Bill Barnwell is saying it for a reason, though. And that's why I give it some credence, because this is not the first time he's brought this up. So who is he talking to? You know I love DJ more personally and professionally and all that kind of stuff.

What? That's right. That's right. But to answer the question, would I be, yes, I would be on board with this move for sure. And because it just, like when you go back and you compare some of those trades, and I know you referenced them, like I'll just go back to even the Khalil Mack trade. Would you say Kalil Mack at that point and Max Krosby at this point and Max Krasby at this point pretty comparable, right, in terms of what being at the peak of their powers and the

disruption they could cause. When you say that's pretty good comp in terms of being at the peak of their powers. Yeah, and I think Vegas still probably considers like giving, they gave him away for two first rounders where the team made the playoffs in the first year. You know, that's the other part of that. Yeah, two first round picks, a third round pick and a sixth round pick and six years and $141 million eventually for Khalil Mack. Micah Parsons. Everything. And it looked good. It had felt. good, and we can debate on whether or not it was worth it. Come back, Leal.

Come back. Salientia. Come back. He wasn't done. He wasn't done. You weren't done. They're done with me, apparently. No, no, no, no.

The Butte was done. He had it. This is a different show. Come back. This is Mojee and Grotie featuring Chris Rangie saying the words. I couldn't say in our last segment. Miss a little, miss a lot. Finish your thought.

You're dead, Jack. Finish your thought. You're alive. Two first round picks. Kenny Clark, four years, $188 billion. This is a good deal. I don't know why anybody would say no to this deal. It's a good deal.

We're all giving the disclaimer. We love DJ Moore, and they may be bereft of a top receiver without DJ Moore unless Luther Burden takes that next step, and Roma Dunesay gets better. So I'm not just frivolously letting DJ Moore go, but yes, hell yes, I would do that trade. DJ Moore is still your WR1. He really is. He really is. And I know there was a quiet period last year where he wasn't even getting targeted.

And we had a famous interaction, DJ and I did. And then what? Yeah, there was a lot of what going on in that conversation. But he still made the biggest catches of the year. You wouldn't, you would not have gotten as far as you got without DJ Moore last year, period. Number two. NFL.com ranked all of the starting quarterbacks during the 2025 season and Bears quarterback Caleb Williams landed among the top 10 at number eight, which is a huge jump from his number 28 standing after the 2024 season. Here's how the top 10 stacked up.

Number 10, Joe Burrow, number nine, Jared Gough. There's number eight, Caleb Williams. Number seven, Sam Donald, number six, Trevor Lawrence, number five, Justin Herbert. Number four, Drake May. Drake. Number three, Dak Prescott. Number two, Josh Allen, and number one, Matthew Stafford, your MVP. Do you agree with where Caleb Williams landed in NFL.com's quarterback rankings?

Okay, this is a curious list. Is it not? Like, number one, Dak Prescott. number three? Yeah. Yeah. Stafford is at number one. I actually agree with that.

I'm sorry. Prescott stood out to me too. And I get that. There was a discussion to be made at an earlier point in the season that he could have been the MVP. But to have Drake made it at number four, is that just because of a sparkling completion percentage in the regular season he had? And now couldn't you flip-flop Drake May and Sam Darnold, at least put Darnold at

number five because he slayed the dragon of can he win in the postseason. Listen, I don't think they won the Super Bowl because of Sam Darnold. But most importantly, they didn't lose it either. And you could argue that part of the reason the Patriots lost was because of the play of Drake. I know Drake was injured. I know. But the point is that's where this kind of gets open for discussion. Caleb Williams deserves to be in the top 10.

There's no doubt about that. I don't know, Groats. I think he might be a number seven, you know. Maybe, but then like I look at the two guys that are behind Caleb Williams. Jared Goff is nine. Joe Burrow is 10. You talk about neck and neck and neck. Like you could have put Caleb Williams at nine or 10.

You could have put a mix of any of those three guys to me, eight, nine and 10, as in I could have seen Caleb at 10 and Burrow at nine. You know who's not on this list? Patrick Mahomes. For one year and one year only, ladies and gentlemen. Right at like ACL Patrick Mahomes. Is that why? Everybody gets, hey, Tom Brady missed a list because of injury at one point in time in his career.

That's what makes this so hard. Yeah, that we can make our own list. Actually, that'd be fun to do, like projecting, projecting, note for the show, projecting the top 10 quarterbacks in the 20, 26, 2027 season. Yeah, we could write that down. Right that down. Robbie? Where's Robbie? Robbie, write that.

I think he's in New York. Sometimes he hops on on Twitch, though. I can never tell by his Instagram post, Robbie Triado. I'm in New York. Can you believe this? I'm in New York. He's so happy. He really is.

His story, he's always like listening on some sort of, like, he's always at a DJ show. And he's like, I'm so happy to be here. I live here. Look at all these big buildings. I'm in New York. It'll wear off. And he's with Danny, his dad. I mean.

So, okay, so you can't really peg one through 10 either, can you? I can't? I'm with you, though, like, yeah, hell yeah, Matthew Stafford, 100%. I'm sorry. Lock it in. It wasn't even a question for me who was MVP. Honestly, I'm good with Drake May, too. I'm not just going to look at Drake May and say because of the play.

I mean, he did get to the Super Bowl and he was awesome during the regular season. So I think he deserves a top five spot. Justin Herbert's always interesting, too, because he's great. He's got this beautiful arm, but does he win? Does he come through in the big spots? I don't know if I'm comfortable with him as a top five. guy. There's a lot of criticism now that Sam Darnold

slayed a dragon that didn't entirely exist about who's reliable and who's winning in the playoffs and all that. The chargers remain bizarrely inconsistent. But you know Justin Herbert's going to throw for 4,000. So that's what makes this tricky.

Number three. This is five on it on one four three. The score with Lailorah Rehemi and Mark Grody. Here's question number three. On Monday, Cubs manager, Craig Counsel, said this about Sayat Suzuki's role this season. He DH the vast majority of the year. The second half, we saw him in the outfield quite a bit more. And last year, Sayah D-Hing last year was a function of the roster,

just a function of acquiring Tucker. That's just how the roster fits together. This year it's going to look differently. We're going to see him in right field a lot. And looking forward to it. I think Sayas had just some not, he's just had some drop balls, frankly. Like that's what's happened. The rest of the stuff's been, been solid.

It's Craig Counsel talking about Sayas Suzuki's role this season. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the confidence meter, trademark, where do you rate your level of belief in Suzuki's defensive ability in right field? Seven. That's being generous. Wow. So you have a lot of confidence in him. I have more than 50%.

Okay. But I do know that the Cubs have lost some games because of SEA in Rightfield. Now, granted, they've lost some games because of other people in Rightfield. And I get that. But I think Sayas' right field play improved enough last season to where I'm not as concerned about it. What makes me more raise an eyebrow at this point is, once again, you are having to manage I think the nuances of your team is Sayy Suzuki in right field because you know he's a more effective hitter

when he plays in right field. So then you've got to manage that risk reward. Then there's the risk reward of, well, how is Matt Shaw going to develop offensively if he doesn't get regular reps? Combine that with what do we know about Moises by Astero's? And that's where this gets tricky. It's almost like when we were talking about the playoffs last year

and trying to figure out who was starting or if they were opening and how that was going to go in the jigsaw puzzle. I feel like we're still doing that a bit with the position players on the Cubs. Are we not? We are because trying to figure out where Matt Shaw fits in exactly. I mean, I can't. This is one of those times where we could all ask Craig Counsel all of these questions about all of these players, including somebody like Daniel Palencia,

who was named as the closer. I can't wait to see what it actually looks like once they get going. I would give the number six, I would say, in terms of some a little bit more concerned. Oh, no, wait. The higher the number, the more concerned, right? No, no, no, confidence meter. So you're correct. If you're more concerned, that means the number should be lower.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I am more concerned. So I am at a six right there. You can overcome, say, a Suzuki. I mean, we have to be able to do that. It's like, he'll be fine for a while out there. And then just inexplicably, it seems like, either just badly misjudge a ball.

And usually when it's a bad play, it's initially there's an excuse given. Like what happened there? Was it the sun? Did the wind push it? Was it the lights? Then it's like, no.

Against the Braves a couple years ago, that was outright misfield. Yeah. There was no excuse. That was just misplaying of a ball. I was just going to say what it usually comes down to is Sayas Suzuki making the mistakes out there. He's not a joke out there.

He's not a clown in right field. He's not bad. But he's a little bit. of a concern. So, yeah, I put it at a six for him, but the bat is undeniable. Number four. Have the Cubs done enough to improve their starting rotation? Okay, so here's the thing.

Why am I reading on Friday that Zach Allen not only didn't sign with the Cubs, but is making less than Shona Imanaga for that one season. And it's not a ton less. But I think $900,000 is a lot of money. Maybe I'm wrong. But that's kind of where I sit with this. I'm like, wait a second. What was all this one in a million talk?

What was all this Zach Gallen is going to be here? There's a six-man rotation and it's sunshine and lollipop. Wasn't it with Bruce that I asked the question? By the time it's all said and done, the same question I asked Dempster, and he said, Kate Orton, by the time it's all said and done, who's going to be the ace pitcher? And I thought maybe Justin Steele. And he's like, no, Zach Gallen. And Bruce has sources.

But what Bruce doesn't have is control of the market. Correct. So like, Bruce, we trust. So if Zach Allen says, I want to go back to Arizona and bet on myself for a measly $22 million, then he's going to do that. And I understand loyalty. And, and, you know, we all have it to a fault. But, but on its face, I'm like, wait a second here.

Zach Allen's getting paid less than Charityman not going to pitch. I don't like. it. I don't like it. So you would say the Cubs have not done enough to improve their starting rotation? I don't even know if the answer's yes or no. I just really wanted to use this time to complain about this issue. Penalize her for not answering the question, guys.

No, because it really comes down to that for me. But do I have a defined feeling about it yet? I don't know. So you're leaning towards, man, they could have added that arm and it would have been better. You're stuck on Zach Allen. Okay. I am, and you know what else? I feel like I discovered him a long time ago before anybody else did.

there was this random game where Father Sackowitz was being honored from the Cathedral at the Sox game. And it was Sox in Marlins. And it was in like 2019 or something in like July. And I'm like, dang, who is this picture for the Marlins? He's just like mowing down capable and decently good socks hitters. It was Zach Gallant. How you doing, Zach Gallen? Nobody was talking about Zach Allen at that time.

And then I was always like, oh, that guy's really good. And then you remember he got traded for Jazz Chisham. it was like a one for one. I was like, what a compelling trade. A one for one. Like a true one for one. Very interesting in two positions of note. And then he rose to success. And then I was like, oh, maybe he'll come here and pitch. No. So it's personal, in other words. So now we're really getting to the bottom of this. I discovered Zach Allen, not the Morland's front office. I discovered that he. Did I not discover he look like Kyle Mooney though? Can I can I see you and raise you he looks like Kyle Mooney? To answer the question, I will, I will say, I will dare step out, Leila, and say, yes, they are better because guess what? I cannot wait to see Kate Horton for an entire year with the Chicago Cubs now that he is healthy.

It was painful that he was not available. I'm not jinksing Kate Horton. I can't wait to see his whole. I didn't say I can't wait to see him be a Cy Young award winner. I didn't say I didn't make any bold predictions. Now I said it. Now it's out there. But absolutely with just.

and Steele presumably coming back at some point in time in the season with Edward Cabrera. What are you going to get out of him? You know, and Matthew Boyd, Matthew Boyd was in the conversation for Cy Young last year. So I guess I'm downright giddy about the Cubs starting pitching right now. Josh Giddy? I am downright Josh Giddy.

Speaking of Robbie Triano. It all comes back to Giddy. That's right. Number five. Five on it on 104.3, the score with Laila Rahini. She was off on President's Day. And Mark Grody, he was off on President's Day. I'm executive producer Ray Diaz.

I worked on President's Day. Our associate producer, Tyler Buterbaugh, he worked on President's Day. Tyler, do you regret not taking the day off? I mean, at first, no, but then I saw how nice it was. It's a beautiful one of it. This is really a question designed for Layla to laugh at us. And our go-to-place, Central Park Bar, I'm pretty sure they opened up the patio area. So I did kind of think of, it would have been nice.

Would have been nice, man. On the patio area. During the day. I decided to take a little walk and I listened to 1043 the score on the Odyssey app on my walk. And you know what I was watching? Not only were the people

all in a good mood, so were the animals. Like the ducks were just having a love a little time at the lake all like quacking to each other like trying to find some food. Geese were out, geese were having a good time yesterday. The geese were so happy

that I swear they were performing for people at the park. Everybody was getting treats. the dogs were out there sunning themselves when the animals are in a good mood that's how you know it was a banner day to take off work yeah you know we don't think

about the animal portion of that enough because we're all outside we're all wearing short sleeves some people are doing the hoodie in short what about the animals the animals are back that's such a nice touch right there well yesterday I did take the day I slept in a little bit went out to Orland Park

I was out in the south suburbs yesterday so I was in a car way too long yesterday. Boom. Yeah, but I did get to go to Costco with my buddy, Dan Levy the Cat, which he has a family. I realized yesterday.

Oh, cat family. For, yeah, Dan Levy the Cat. I realized. Dave is the cat. Oh, yeah, yeah. I realize that as a single guy, Costco's not necessarily the place for me. I was like, what do I use every day that I need in bulk?

It turned out I got caught. I did get coffee because I drink it. And there's a specific brand that I, I drink every day. Pikes Place. How you doing everybody? And I was able to get that in bulk. But that was it. That was it. And then when I got home, yes, I just I had no plan other than walking out of my

building and just walking about the city. And I did. I walked all the way down State Street, went to the rack. Yo, hanging out at the rack, man. Nordstrom rack. That's right. That's a great place. I did go to my Starbucks for a little while. Oh, you're, oh, you did. Did you say hi to the people? But they're inside. So they weren't having the same great time. Nor did I. Right.

I usually feel really comfortable. Like in the winter, I feel really good in a coffee shop, not on a 65-degree day. So are you two going to take a day off in exchange or what? Because you know how I feel. I think you should. Your time is worth a lot to me. You guys are precious. You know, I'll find something to do.

I got to make a plan. Riz. I got a strategically plan this is when I want to use it, you know. So the answer is yes. TBD. We're going to take it together. Yeah, we're going to go. We're going to get away, do a producers getaway, you know.

You deserve it. it. Producer retreat. So you want to spend more time with the guy that you sit with for five hours a day? Absolutely. I love this guy. Did you see who perked up when I said producer retreat? Old Tanny back there. Old Tanny's back there? Chris Tannahill. Oh, hey, old tanny. Hi, you know, buddy. Chris Tanahill wants it on the producer retreat. Hell yeah. That's what I'm talking about. We had a midday show retreat one time to Nise. That was a good time. Chris Tannehill wants nothing to do with a producer retreat. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. Well, we'll figure that out in the break.

Not that he doesn't love everybody, I'm just saying. Coming up next, we want to get back into some of the CAP discussions that are abound for these Bears. Kevin Fishbane wrote a big article about the CAP casualties that could happen. This is franchise tag day in the NFL, so we're also keeping track tack. What? We're keeping track and tabs on that. All right, that's it. I'm cut off. Get it together, girl. Kevin Fishbane, Bears beat writer for the athletic. If Justin Fields is great, he'll be great, He'll be great with Byron Pringle and Darnell Mooney and Equanimus St. Brown. You'd like better players around him, but I think you'll still be able to find a way to evaluate your quarterback, even if it's not greatness around him.

Kevin Fishbane, Matt Eber, Flew, George McCasky, Ryan Poles, Kevin Fishpain. On Chicago Sports Radio, 1043, the score. Kevin Fishbain is a regular guest here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie, and we love talking to him in the offseason two, and he joins us now via our Cirker. resort and casino hotline. Circle Las Vegas.com. He is one of the senior writers at the Athletic Covering the Bears. He also is a great podcast, breaking in with Kevin Fishbane,

a sports media podcast. And he joins us via Twitch, twitch.tv.tv slash The Score Chicago. Hey, Kevin, how are you? I'm good, guys. Happy off season. Happy offseason, except unfortunately in the very well-written and illustrated story that you posted

with the athletic last week. Talking about the very realistic issues with the bear's salary cap problems. It was a nice table that was also illustrated to and showed, whether it was muddy owed or dead cap money or how they would count against the cap. What were your takeaways from just the research you put together when you wrote that story? This is new territory for Ryan Poles, really, and the bears. I mean, for the past few years, they've always been up there as having a ton of cap space, great draft capital. and now, you know, this is what happens when you're good. This is what happens when you sign a bunch of veterans

and you start making some bigger splashes in the trade market and extending those guys. You're up against the cap. So they've got some decisions to make. And, you know, I always allude to a conversation I have Ryan Poles a couple years ago where he leaned on his experience of Kansas City. He goes, it gets harder when you are winning football games

because you can't keep everybody. And this is really going to be the first offseason. and that we might see some of the what, you know, it's a business, as you guys know, but our tough decisions, if Ryan Poles doesn't resign Jaquan Bristker, that was his second ever draft pick. If the Bears aside to part ways of Tremaine Edmins, that was really his first huge free agent splash that they made. So Nishon Wright, who was the story of the year,

they might not be able to resign him. So these are the things that come with cap restraints and having a bit of a better team. and owing other guys some money. But the flip side of that, Leila, is there's only one player, really, that you could talk about getting an extension done now, and that's Darnell Wright. And by restructuring some of these guys' contracts, you can flip the script and create a lot of cap space,

but that also kicks the can down the road a bit. All right, now you got me stopped at darnall right. If the Bears were to engage in an extension, or even the talks of an extension with darn all right? What are we looking at here, Kevin, money-wise? It's interesting, Mark, because I talked to a couple agents who do not represent right, just kind of floated it to them. If you were his representation, what are you asking for?

One of them said, I'd reset the market. He was second team all pro. You look at his age. You look at the accomplishments. Remember, he did all that last year, most of it with a brace on his arm. You could say, like, hey, we'll go ahead. get the, you know, we'll top penny Sewell, which right now is the top right tackle contract. Now, remember, I just like to point out that when a guy resets the market, he's only reset

the market until the next guy resets the market, right? So like, you know, and again, this is just one agent's kind of thought process. And now they have the fifth year option at their disposal that buys them some time. If they don't get a deal done this year, they can apply the franchise tag next year. So there's a lot of tools at their disposal. But talking to people, Mark, you know, you're looking at adding like a third or fourth year, you can be talking, you know, $100 million. You're looking in that $20, $25 million a year range.

But the way he played last year, I think the Bears would feel good about that. That'd be their guy, right? That was the first, first round pick of the Ryan Poles era. You'd have to be happy to even be having this conversation. I guess, Kevin, if your choices as the general manager of the Bears are either, let your guy at Wright tackle Darnel Wright reset the market or franchise tag if that comes up, not obviously a this year problem, then you probably would rather a franchise tag, for example, but when those are your options, they're both very expensive discussions that you would have to have.

And even a fifth year option is another one where they can extend. But either way, you're looking at pricey scenarios for a guy who frankly deserves all of the respect that has gotten to him. Yeah, it's an interesting conversation too lately because you talk about like the cap number, right? Like he's going to be a very relatively cheap player this year if he continues to play under that rookie contract. Right. If you give him the franchise tag, that's a huge cap hit for that one year that he has the tag. The fifth year option is a big hit for that specific year. If you can work out a contract now, you can kind of massage those cap hits so they get higher.

We haven't even talked about the left tackle possibility, right? Do the bears want to try him out over there this season? If you're his representation, you know, I think right tackle versus left tackle is not what it used to be, but, you know, you could have some money conversations there. So, again, I think a lot of these things are in the category of good problems to have. Like, it is good that their first-round pick from 23 had played up to the point where we can have these conversations. And as you said, they're not in a rush. But the one thing to think about for them, when you talk about cash flow, is, you know, after the 2026 season, you start talking about guys that you drafted in 2024, and that includes the quarterback.

So, you know, these are all things that they have to think about. Obviously, they want to think about what can we do to be competitive this year, but you also have to keep in mind stuff that's going to be floating down the line. Yep. This is the real part of the NFL every year. And it is nice that the Bears have played. hold up in this place where they do have to get creative because they were good talking to Kevin Fishbane, Beers Beat Writer for the Athletic and Rahimi Harrison Grody here on the score. What about contract restructuring?

Because that always feels much more gentle than having the idea to release contributors. What are the possibilities there? Who would be the top candidates for restructuring? Yeah. So your big ones there are Grady Jarrett, DJ Moore, Montez Sweat. I talked to one league source who did the math for me. I was really good at math guys in elementary school, like really good. And then just went off a cliff.

One plus one is two, you know what I'm saying? I mean, that was what we're talking about. I mean, those times tables, those multiplication tables, I ran through them pretty quickly. 33 million they could create. I mean, DJ Moore's contract alone could create 17.5 million. But remember, when you're restructuring a contract, which essentially in layman's terms, you are turning a salary into a bonus. I'm not doing a great job with those layman terms,

but that allows the cap number to come down for that year. They get the cash up front, but that cap number then grows moving forward. So at some point you have to deal with it. The New Orleans Saints, you never want to be the Saints because they had a problem where they were restructuring guys left and right and just continued to have a lot of cap challenges.

So those are some of the guys, Joe Tuni you could do something with as well. So all those players, they're going to be here next year. Now, I guess I paused there with DJ Moore because we could have a separate conversation about that. But Grady Jarrett's going to be on the team, Monteswe's going to be on the team, you know, Jonah Jackson, Joe Tuny. So you can do these restructures with these guys and lower their cap hits for this year. Give yourself some more cap space and, you know, worry about their 2027 cap hit when is 2027.

Yeah, I think it's fair. That's part of the issue is how, for how long. can you keep doing this? You mentioned the Saints, Kevin, the Eagles come to mind. You know, at some point they're going to have to pay that as well just because of the deal they did with Jalen Hertz. So it is something where at some point you are going to have to address it. I guess there's really no precedence out when it comes to how far along. But in the meantime, I also think about there's no knock on signing a guy to a contract and then having to restructure a year in. But do you think the bears might want to stay away from that when it comes to

the guys like who they just signed a deals like Grady Jared or like a Joe Tuni or a Dio O'Dangbo or somebody along the lines that that has that high money but still has years left? Yeah. And that's that short term, long term conversation, right? Like it's like, well, you know, shoot, we really think we could make a deep run this year. We still have the quarterback on the rookie contract. Let's just figure out how much space we can get now to make the signings we want to make now. Now, the other conversation to have about this is, who are you using that money for?

Because we've learned in the past, certainly last year, and I think this has happening more and more, that if you want to go get better in March, that's the trade market more so than free agency. So are there guys in free agency that they're going to circle and want to bring in like they did with Drew Dalman? Of course. Are there guys they want to trade for, and they need to have that cap space ready for that player or two as well, especially again if you're kind of not going all in but you want to be aggressive for this year so yeah with some of those guys it's going to be a balancing act matt feinstein's the VP of football administration you know this is this is what they this is what he's there for is there to handle kind

of these things and the bears are generally in it like it's weird to say this because if you go look at you know cap space they're at the bottom of the league or near the bottom compared to past years but they are he has put themselves as in a healthy situation where it is not hard for them to get cap space. But it then just makes things trickier year after year after year if you have to keep doing this. But again, guys, I know I'm harping on this, but you would much rather be talking about it in these terms than saying and being like, well, the bears have $90 million in cap space. They went four and 13 last year. And they have to sign four free agents and hope that all of them hit to even be competitive next year. This might be like a more, you know, monotonous conversation.

It's all about cap space and restructuring and salary cap hits and all those things. but it means that the team is in a better spot with the talent on the field. Yeah, and it's important for people to know that, yes, even though you hear things like the bears are in the red, they're under the cap, all that stuff, or they're out of money. They're not really as long as they get creative and that's why we're having you on. Also, if I may, Kevin Fishman, I would like to make you an offer. Or actually, I will let you fill in the blank. How much money do you want for that 1984 Chicago, Chicago,

Cubs World Series pennant. I'm seeing in your background on Twitch. Is that what I'm seeing? Maybe I need to look at your background more often. I didn't even know they made those. Because it never happened, kids. The Cubs were supposed to go to the World Series in 1984 against the Tigers, but they got stunned by Tony Gwynne and the Padres.

Tell me more about that pennant, fishy business. You know what, Grotie, you found the Easter egg. So maybe because you spotted it, You should just get it. I should just give it to you. I would love to own that. That is... I was at... This is six plus years ago. I should know the date actually was my wedding. At the gift table, you know, you're collecting the gifts, and there was a pennant just sitting on the gift table.

That's one of my parents' friends had laying around their basement. They thought it'd be funny. Just throw it on the wedding gift table. And I put it up, and I kid you not, I did not realize what it said at first. I thought it just said, you know, I didn't realize it said national league champions. I put it up and had it in my office. And then one day somebody pointed out to me like, hey, that didn't happen. They didn't actually win the National League.

I was like, oh, you know what? I feel even better about having it up right now so that I can have moments like this where one Mark Grody can spot that Easter egg. I fell for it. Yep, I got the Easter egg. That's tremendous. If you want to see it, it is on Twitch. dot TV slash the score Chicago and one of Kevin Fishbane's National Sports Media Association,

Writers of the Year, is also on there as well. Just all over the place. We also, by the way, have a 2018 Memorial Day 10-U baseball tournament championship trophy up there. Wow. Fantastic. I think it's time for you to have like a little yard sale or garage sale just to give away all your, or sell all your stuff.

Don't give it away. It takes road show. I need to know the value of these. things. Yeah. I wonder what a... The trophy for the... Listen, that trophy is

priceless to me. That was one of my greatest coaching performances of all time. I'm not sure how much it's going to get on the open market. Antiques Road Show. That's all I have to say. Who's a better coach?

You were a Weeder. Weederer talks a big game. He really... I don't know if you're figuring that out about Weedsie, but he does like to pat himself on the back as a coach. I mean, Dan, this might

surprise you. I think Dan might be a little bit more emotional out there than I was. But Dan's a fantastic coach. I have gone to see some of his son's games. I am out of the coaching profession for a while. I did it for a long time and it was so much fun. So I like to go see my friends coaching their kids and yeah, Dan does a phenomenal job. And I love the passion, right? when he's sending me videos of, you know, himself running out to home plate to high-five a player, those are great. Those are pretty special. Do you think he's ever said to one of the kids, at some point in time, you're going to have to do your job?

Do you think he would say that? Because he might have said that in the Bears' media room at some point in time in his life. I'm going to leave it ambiguous. He might have. He might have. He might have. I don't know. I don't know. Okay.

My four baseball players will tell you that, you know, every once in a while I'd have to get after them, right? You have to, you know, not, not, did I have a practice every once in a while where I was doing my best, Herb Brook suppression? Again. Again, you know. But we had some good times out there on the diamond. And now we've got to find out who Dan Weider said that to. Kevin Fishpane, this has been a lot of fun. Thanks, as always. coming on. Thank you guys.

Bye. That's Kevin Fishbane, joining us via the Circus Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circus Sports app today. You went to a pep rally. I did. Or was it? I will let you know. I was in Arlington Heights last week, where there are a lot of people, desirous of the Bears building that stadium at a

Arlington racetrack. So I'll tell you what I found out. Next. Rahimi, Harrison Groot. Midday's tidal tune on Chicago Sports Radio. Welcome to Hollis Harbor. You did not remix the Hallis Harbor video. It's Hallis, Hallis Harbor. It's Hallis, Hallis Harbor. It's Hallis, Hallis Harbor.

Listen, the Vanga Boys is only supposed to be used for controversial discussions. Now was the Hellas Harbor. Like whether or not Kyle Tucker is actually injured, okay? And whether or not he was hiding a broken finger from everybody for a month. It's not supposed to be for fun stuff, like the idea of a Hallis Harbor type of city slash amusement park slash Bears Project Bears.

Okay? Bears. That's the official title. They have really big water slights. That's the portage, right? That was the Hallis Harbor. Were you just dancing? Kind of. I was just doing this. Is this dancing? Yes, I think it is. That passes for dancing. Then I guess

I was dancing. I was a dancing. Mark Grody was dancing. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104, the score. And you have a Bears stadium hit. Yeah. Not a Bears hit. A Bears stadium hit. Tell me about going to the, we'll call it a rally, but I swear I read the words pep rally.

I think I did too. But I don't want to diminish it. No. It's a stadium rally that you went to in Arlington Heights. It was. It was last week. It was a packed house at the Double Tree Hotel in Arlington Heights. Were there cookies?

Were there the double tree chocolate chip cookies? There was not food. There was a bar that you could get drinks from. because that's what people get. Yes, I, of course, abstained from such practice as I want to do. But yes, and it was a full house out there. There were representatives from multiple representatives, from multiple, a handful of suburbs.

Obviously, Arlington Heights, well-represented towns like Palatine, Antitaska, where I grew up, just all those Rolling Meadows. The northwestern suburbs were in effect. I'll admit, going into this, I called it a pep rally, and I went into it a little bit on the, okay, let's see what this is all about. They're going to be chanting things. There was a group of gentlemen outside of the double tree that were chanting something, and they had like a big Walter Payton video. Like, what would Walter Payton think if the Bears moved to Indiana? They played their own multimedia outside of the rally?

They did. They did. So when I was outside, I was like, oh, boy, this is going to be something. However, I will say the tone of the meeting that I went to was much more serious than I thought it would be, much more streamlined than I thought it would be, much more humility than I thought there would be, as in they conceded on the record that they are well behind in all of this. And that they have a, the two things I got out of the speeches, which were one about an hour and a half, is that they're, duh, well behind, and that Arlington Heights, and these got are taking Indiana very seriously. The other theme was, it's Illinois against Indiana, which was smart, they pitted again, do you want to lose to Indiana? That was sort of a riding theme throughout Illinois versus Indiana.

We can't possibly let Indiana happen. A couple of- It's here. It's a state. It exists. It is a state that exists and it is absolutely for real. I will say this. Like I'm not necessarily going in the order I wanted to, but since we mentioned Hallis Harbor, which would have been the portage, Indiana site, you could rule that out. And I know most people were like, yeah, that's probably not going to happen. Go ahead and go with that gut. That that you could probably pull portage off the table if you would like. Hammond is in play. Just from what I was hearing. Okay. Okay. Yeah, from people that I talked and I talked to people for about 48, hours after the rally as well. So this is coming from knowledge and background and people that I

spoke to. I did speak to one after I know time is an issue here. I did speak to one Northwest suburban official afterwards. And I said, give me the, give me the brass tax. Is there any way that the bears would actually move to Indiana? And this person said there, and I'm reading off my page, so I get it right, there is no way George McCasky could stomach the heat the bears would take if the bears were to move to Indiana. As this person put it to me, they could not handle losing that press conference on his watch. This is a much bigger bears hit than I realized.

When you're throwing out information like this. Yes. There's a counter to that, though, really quickly. I was going to say, I want to hear the counter, but let's also do this on the other side of our next guest. We could do more of it. Sorry to produce on the fly guys, but I just, I think it's important.

Of course, talking to other people and trying to get all sides of things, I also, directly in response to that, what I learned was, and that is George McCasky would never do it, talking to some other people, perhaps on different sides of the story, saying that the bears, they would never, never, never, never have gotten involved with Indiana if they weren't absolutely serious about Indiana, that they are dead serious about it. it. Would it be their first choice? I think we know the property that they purchased was their

first choice. But at this point, it is absolutely real. They never would have done any of this if they weren't serious about the possibility of moving to Indiana. And this becomes timely again because legislators return for the spring session today. There will be a hearing at 8 a.m. on Thursday before the House Revenue and Finance Committee. State of the state is tomorrow. B. Pritzker. I didn't realize that. So he will, like, that'll, that'll pop up. So things, things are starting to happen right now, but that's some of the backdrop that I can give you about what people are telling me over the last week or so. Okay. Well, not to diminish your reporting, but I, we relate to break. And I didn't realize that you had, sorry about that. No, no, no, no,

no, no, no, let me fish. Bears. Bears. Not, I didn't realize you had done all this other reporting. you you didn't you did not sell yourself you were too humble well i wasn't here i was not here the two days after you were too humble in your sales pitch so i think is it okay if we address a lot of this 100% after our next guest i'd love to i would like to get into this a little bit more yeah i was love hearing what you have to say too because you literally what had a thesis on stadiums i did like so your knowledge is excellent it's been a while guys it's been a while yeah well but i did do a lot of research But no, I mean, this is important. This is new information.

I'll recap and give you more too later. And the George McCaskey Nugget is absolutely massive. It really is. It is. You just dropped a little bit of a breaking news bomb on us. I'm a little sneaky like that, aren't I? Breaking news is brought to you by none other than Mark Grady and Dan Wheaters take the North podcast.

Which we record today, kids. So there'll be a new episode coming out this afternoon. There is also massive news in the world of Major League Baseball. And incredibly enough, Evan Drellick was set to join us today. He's the senior writer at the athletic covering the state of Major League Baseball. The Players Union is going to have a seismic difference ahead of their most important negotiation yet. So we get to discuss it all with Evan. Next.