NBC Sports and longtime NFL writer Peter King published his annual NFL Power Rankings this week, and it isn’t a pleasant read for Chicago Bears fans. Like most of the national media, King doesn’t believe in the Bears this season.
King is such a disbeliever that he has the Bears among the worst five teams in the league at No. 28:
“I’ve crushed Chicagoland dreams,” King wrote. “I ranked the Lions over the Bears. Feels like the first time that’s been possible since Joe Schmidt roamed the middle of the field. But part of being a smart franchise architect is to survey the landscape and understand where you are and who you are. Ryan Poles did that when he took this job. He traded Khalil Mack, putting a $24-million dead-cap-money anchor on the franchise in the process, and saddled the team with $52.8-million in dead money.
“The flip side: The Bears have a league-high $96.9-million in cap space in 2023 ($103 million more than the in-debt Packers, per Over The Cap). The upshot is if new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy can help Justin Fields to be a competent player, the Bears will be in great position to attack the market next March. Baby steps, Bear fans.”
