Day 18 of the Chicago Bears offseason. Iโve been fighting it for 5+ months, but I think Iโm finally giving in to putting a work desk in my bedroom. Maybe I wonโt feel so bad about it if I donโt call it a โwork desk.โ
- There is so much good stuff on the Ben Johnson front right now. I can’t get enough. If anyone needs me, I’ll be cramming my eyeballs with Johnson content until further notice.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain has what I believe to be the most important takeaway โ Ben Johnson is ready to build the Bears offense round quarterback Caleb Williams. This is how things should have been all along. Better late than never, baby!
- Let’s give credit where it’s due. As Chris Emma (670 The Score) points out: Reeling in Ben Johnson means the Bears delivered on their promise to hire the best coaching candidate available. Many scoffed when Bears President Kevin Warren said the Bears gig is the best of the bunch. Hiring the coaching candidate who was widely viewed as the best means that his statement from early December is aging quite well. I feel as if Warren needed that win. Next up, how about some visible progress regarding a new stadium?
- Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that Johnson’s arrival provides an opportunity for Bears General Manager Ryan Poles to right the wrongs of offseasons past. Keeping Matt Eberflus at this time last year turned out to not be a costly decision. Besides, Johnson made it clear with how he spoke that he wouldn’t have taken the Bears job (or any job for that matter) last year. This feels like an all is well that ends well situation. But for Poles to come out looking good, he needs to build upon this bit of good fortune. Now is no time to rest on your laurels.
- It resonated with me reading Brad Biggs (Tribune) write about Ben Johnson’s “emotional intelligence” after checking in with a league source. Hence, I’m re-sharing that segment here:
The marriage between Johnson and the Bears is the result of timing, one of the things the Bears have lacked in recent decades. Johnson wasnโt just the flavor of the month, he was a hot candidate in 2024 but described a rare kind of self-awareness in admitting perhaps he wasnโt ready for the job at a time when he was believed to be the leading candidate for the Washington Commanders, who ousted the Lions from the playoffs last week.
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Finding someone who can be acutely self-aware while supremely confident says something about the person. Johnsonโs delivery came across as authentic and sounded as if, yes, he really could be primed for this opportunity after climbing his way through the ranks as a quality control assistant, a position coach, being bumped back down to a QC coach and then ascending on Dan Campbellโs staff in Detroit.
I loved this video package put together by the Bears’ social media team:
No more ifs. Itโs Ben. pic.twitter.com/cdcVnPrQhj
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 22, 2025
- While the Chicago Bears were introducing their head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders โ once presumed to be Ben Johnson’s landing spot โ found themselves in scramble mode. The team was so confident that it would bring Johnson in that it didn’t have a Plan B formulated. Whoopsiedoodle:
- To reiterate a point I’ve been making for weeks: This is why the Bears were interviewing eleventy billion people. Because on the off chance that your No. 1 candidate doesn’t come through, you have contingency plans that are worthwhile. Had Johnson chosen to return to Detroit or leave for Las Vegas, at least Chicago’s football team would have been prepared with Plan B. If this was happening to the Bears, we’d all be shredding them for being unprepared. Frankly, I hope Thomas Edward Patrick Brady gets that smoke.
- Tom Brady losing in January isn’t what anyone in NFL circles is used to seeing. But not only did it happen, it went down because of George McCaskey. Ollie’s Frozen Custard in Sycamore is closed for the season. But when it opens back up, George should take himself out for a sweet treat for making the Ben Johnson thing happen for the Bears.
- The Raiders *DID* get a new GM, John Spytek, so at least they have that going for them.
- Hours after Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen took his name out of consideration for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ search for a new head coach, the Jags canned GM Trent Baalke. This is the type of thing that I would expect to happen to the Bears.
- The folks at Clutch Points share a quote from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport that would constitute an eyebrow-raiser: “I know we’ve talked about this Tom, but it’s definitely a thought that for Jerry Jones, does he really want to pay top dollar for a head coach? This probably wouldn’t be that; it’s at least something the Cowboys are exploring and we’ll see what direction they go.”
- Tom Brady taking L’s. General managers getting fired after ownership learns that no worthwhile head coach wants to work for the guy who puts together the roster. Jerry Jones tightening the purse strings. Perhaps we find ourselves on a new, fixed timeline now that Chicago’s football team appears to have made a shrewd move with a new head coach hiring.
- Aaron Glenn, a one-time candidate for the Bears coaching job, lands a gig with one of his old teams:
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- Brett Taylor has more on Chicago Cubs bullpen options including David Robertson, Ryan Pressley, and Brooks Raley.
- Over at BN Bulls, Elias Schuster chimes in to explain how Jimmy Butler trade talks could impact Chicago’s basketball team.
- Tab Bamford has cooked up a late-January 2025 NHL Mock Draft at BN Blackhawks.