The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is rocking and rolling. The ink is finally dry on the contracts that drove free agency frenzy.
And that means it’s time for one of my absolute favorite annual columns: announcing my Cinderella squad for the upcoming NFL season, the team that will embody the rags-to-riches ethos of March Madness with an eye-catching rise to prominence.
In the seven previous years that I’ve done this, I’ve made selections that look good (the 2017 Jaguars, 2018 Bears, 2019 Bills and 2022 Dolphins all went on to make the playoffs) and, well … not so good (the 2020 Cardinals, 2021 Chargers and 2023 Saints did not).
But one thing I’ve never done before? Choose a squad that is likely to be helmed by a rookie quarterback.
This is partly because of timing. It’s not always possible at this juncture of the calendar to say with much certainty where the top quarterback prospects will end up. And when it is possible to project a pairing this far ahead of the draft, it’s usually because a team played its way to the No.
1 overall pick in the preceding season, which usually indicates the roster isn’t ready to support a Cinderella-esque run right away.
This year is, shall we say, different.
But before we get to the good stuff, let me take a second to remind everyone of my criteria. To be eligible for Cinderella status, a team must not have made the playoffs in the previous season, and it shouldn’t be widely considered a Super Bowl contender.
The Chicago Bears currently meet both requirements, as their fans definitely know. When next March rolls around, though, my 2024 Cinderella team will not be in the running for repeat honors, because the Bears are about to win a minimum of 10 games and make the postseason.
Yes, I know this column is not meant to be a playoff prediction; I don’t usually lock those in until after Labor Day. I just have to get this bold with Chicago, because of how much I love what the Bears have done — and what they’re about to do.
