When former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren left his post after four years to return to the NFL with the Chicago Bears, it came as a surprise to some around the league as he had already worked for three teams previously (St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings), so why would he come back again?
How Involved Will Kevin Warren Be?
This time around, Warren, who was hired by the Bears in January of this year, is the team’s president and CEO, which is a higher position than he held previously with any of those other teams.
Warren replaced Ted Phillips, who held that title since 1999 and decided to retire after 40 seasons with the team. Phillips is now a senior advisor for the club.
A source who worked with the veteran business executive during a previous NFL stop said Warren “definitely has interest in football ops and what goes on there.”
Warren, during his time with the Rams, wound up being involved with player contract negotiations during his last year with the club after being promoted from VP of player programs and football legal counsel to VP of football administration. He left the team the next season (2001) to work with the Lions as their senior VP of business operations and general counsel.
Prior to joining the Rams in 1997, Warren, a long-time attorney, started his own sports and representation agency in the early 1990s, so he had been involved in dealing with NFL teams in terms of contract negotiations from the players’ side.
From talking to various personnel executives over the years, most NFL team presidents don’t get involved with true football decisions.
MORE: Chicago Bears Depth Chart
The source added Warren is not there to make decisions for GM Ryan Poles, but, for example, “if they are going to move one of those first-round picks (they own theirs and the Carolina Panthers for the 2024 NFL Draft), he’s going to be involved. He’ll want to know what’s going on and his voice will certainly be heard on the bigger decisions.”
We also asked another source with ties to the organization about what Warren’s involvement could be with football operations. The person added part of Warren’s interest would likely be more about having “his own guy” as a head coach.
But whether that guy is current head coach Matt Eberflus past this season remains to be seen.
The Bears, who have won three out of their last four games, still only carry a record of 5-8 this season. Chicago has won just eight out of 22 games with Eberflus at the helm.
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