Ben Johnson chose the Chicago Bears over other suitors for what I sense are two reasons. First, follow the money.
He will reportedly earn an average of $13 million per year, putting him just below the top echelon of head coaches without having been one before. The Bears were willing to spend.
The other reason is their quarterback: Caleb Williams. Johnson preferred working with Williams more than any quarterback option the Las Vegas Raiders would have had in the draft or free agency.
When I worked for the Green Bay Packers, we quietly smirked when a division rival kept or hired a general manager or coach that, well, was not exactly a game-changer.
To the contrary, this hire should cause some angst in Green Bay, Detroit and Minnesota; the Bears got better.
With Johnson choosing the Bears, the Raiders pivoted in a way I certainly did not expect, choosing the 73-year old Pete Carroll to lead them.
I had thought Carroll had coached his last game in the NFL in 2023, seen, like Bill Belichick, to be too old or too inflexible to lead another team.