Jones said he felt like he was in “a good spot” as he continues to recover from a torn right Achilles tendon.
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Ilinois Gov. JB Pritzker stopped short of taking personal responsibility for not getting a deal over the goal line with state legislators, but he blamed the Bears for various fumbles along the way.
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While Braun did not discuss any details of signing agreements with the Bears, he did note that work beginning on a new stadium is still years away.
Two sources familiar with conversations between the state and the Bears said no formal deal or letter of intent has been finalized, though each described the sides as “very close” to putting pen to paper.
Mickey Shuey and and The Bears said in a statement that its board of directors met and voted to move forward with Hammond.
The discrepancy contradicts what the Bears told lawmakers crafting the Arlington Heights legislation and could deepen mistrust between the team and Springfield after months of negotiations over a stadium proposal.
The team has said it will pick between Hammond and Arlington Heights, Illinois, in late spring or early summer. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott told IBJ on Monday he expects a decision within 30 days.
Pritzker had reason to be cautious, given clear polling evidence that, much as Illinoisans love the Bears, they love their pocketbooks more and oppose bailouts for billionaire sports team owners.
“That might happen,” the Illinois governor said of the team taking a stadium deal to build across the state line, where Hoosier lawmakers have pledged $1 billion in public subsidies.
Mickey Shuey and The NFL franchise has been considering going across the state line into Hammond for its planned $2 billion stadium and surrounding mixed-use development since December.
House staff and labor allies made an aggressive overtime drive to whip support for a bill the chamber had not seen and had reservations over because it was fundamentally different from the measure they approved in April.
The Illinois Legislature is set to wrap up its session at the end of this month and keeps haggling over a bill intended to persuade the Bears to pick a stadium site in suburban Chicago.
In 2015, after a half-century in New York City, the NFL turned its draft into a road show.
The Hammond site, a plat at Wolf Lake Park, was presented to the league’s stadium committee on Wednesday along with a proposal for Chicago suburb Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Fernando Mendoza was among five players with close ties to the state of Indiana to be drafted in the first round Thursday night.
The bill was approved in a bipartisan 72-38 vote after a series of amendments and backroom jockeying played out in the state Capitol.
The investigation comes amid increasing federal scrutiny of the amount of money fans are paying to watch sports on television.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, say the bill would protect taxpayers from being extorted by team owners for huge subsidies. The legislation would likely face an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Two days after Pierce — Jones’ top target — agreed to a four-year contract extension, the Colts brought back their quarterback on a two-year deal.
Just over 24 hours after Gov. Mike Braun signed legislation to provide public funding for a football stadium for the Chicago Bears in Hammond, legislative leaders sounded less than certain a deal would get done.
The numbers were sent to clubs Friday, and teams must be under the salary cap by March 11, the first day of the new league year.
The Indiana Senate is set to vote as soon as Thursday afternoon on legislation that would authorize the financing and construction of a stadium in Hammond.
