Why One Reporter Thinks Ben Johnson Will Run The 2026 Offseason For The Bears

The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs made a bold statement about the second-year coach’s power within the Bears organization.

Jan 22, 2025; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears new head coach Ben Johnson (right) with general manager Ryan Poles pose for photos after a press conference introducing him at PNC Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

If Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is the man in the charge of doing the proverbial roster shopping, Ben Johnson, now a second-year head coach with the team, is the man cooking up with the ingredients he gets.

But to hear Chicago Tribune Bears beat reporter Brad Biggs tell it, Johnson might be in charge of making the grocery list, too, and Poles’ and Johnsons’ relationship might be less like Kevin Costner and Dennis Leary in Draft Day and more like the UberEats driver trying to get you exactly what you asked for on your grocery list.

On an appearance with 670 The Score on Thursday morning with Mully and Haugh, Biggs made an interesting statement about how this critical 2026 Bears offseason will work from an organizational standpoint. In particular, Johnson might have a good deal more power and influence than he did last year.

“Ben Johnson is the top football guy at Halas Hall right now. That's not a knock on Ryan Poles at all.

"There's no way that Ryan Poles is going to go out and make some transaction to bring in some player that Ben doesn't want."

On one hand, that shouldn’t come off as incredibly groundbreaking. General managers and head coaches should generally have as much accord as possible when working on putting together a roster. When you don’t, that’s how you end up with John Fox’s jaw dropping as Ryan Pace takes Mitchell Trubisky No. 2 overall, or Mike Vrabel reacting live in disgust as his general manager trades A.J. Brown away without consulting him while with the Tennessee Titans.

That said, head coaches often tend to wield heavy influence in organizations because, ultimately, they have the most control of anyone aside from the players over the on-field product. And some more experienced coaches—Bill Belichick being the most famous example—have been known to take on both the roster construction and coaching. In fact, we were just hearing reports (though we don’t know how true they are) about John Harbaugh not even reporting directly to New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen in his new role.

But the main reason this is interesting is because we might see even more of Johnson’s personnel imprint on this team than last year. 

After all, the Colston Loveland pick at No. 10 and the Luther Burden selection at No. 39 in the 2025 NFL Draft were almost certainly Johnson picks. What would a Ben Johnson defensive draft pick look like? Will he invest harder in the trenches this year with both sides of the ball needing upgrades at key positions (left tackle on offense, the entire defensive line)? Will certain players Poles brought in and extended, like DJ Moore, be on the outs if they don’t fit in with Johnson’s vision?

We don’t want to overblow Biggs’ declaration to mean anything it doesn’t, of course. Just because Johnson had a highly successful first year and has earned more leeway this time around doesn’t mean he’s launching a hostile takeover of the organization or looking to push Poles out.

But it sure looks like the Chicago Bears are about to be fully reshaped in Johnson’s image sooner rather than later. If this year was a taste of it, Bears fans can’t wait to see what the full picture looks like.

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