Bears president Kevin Warren touts benefit of downtown stadium

The Bears own the 326-acre former Arlington International Racecourse property but continue to flirt with the city of Chicago and other suburbs about building a new stadium. When president/CEO Kevin Warren was asked Wednesday whether the Arlington Heights property remained his priority, he said instead that “the priority is to make sure we build a world class stadium for our fans.”

The Bears are still talking to Arlington Heights officials to try to drive down their property tax assessment there. They’ve discussed staying on the Lakefront, including building on a parking lot south of Soldier Field.

“What intrigues me about downtown is I strongly believe Chicago is the finest city in all of the world,” Warren said. “Very rarely do you get the opportunity to have such a beautiful downtown with a vibrant business community, with an absolutely beautiful lake and the energy that goes along [with it].”

The Bears could decide on their next stadium site in the next few months. Warren said it would likely take three years to build the stadium from the moment construction begins.

The Bears’ Soldier Field lease expires in 2033 but they can pay to leave early.

Warren on Williams

Warren defended the Bears’ muzzled public handling of defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ departure — which sources confirmed was related to workplace behavior — in September.

At issue was what the Bears were allowed to say — and not say — related to his employment.

“He’s a good man and we wish him well,” Warren said, “but we just needed to make sure we handled that in a manner that not only was respectful but that we also followed legal issues and a course of action. I feel very comfortable with how we handled that.”

Asked about the departure of Williams and running backs coach David Walker — both for workplace behavior reasons — Warren said the Bears can “always get better.”

This and that

• Poles said receiver Darnell Mooney, who had career lows in catches and yards, “wishes he played a little bit better this year and things went better for him, made some more connections.” He said the Bears will look at his performance when deciding whether to re-sign him ­ but also the impact made by his 2022 injury and increased targets to DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet.

• Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham interviewed for the Commanders’ GM job on Wednesday. Both he and co-director of player personnel Jeff King will interview for the Chargers job, too.

“Trying to steal my guy,” Poles said with a smile. “Now I got another one they’re after.”

• No Bears players will need offseason surgeries, Poles said.