Amid the madness surrounding the Chicago Bears‘ stadium saga, people haven’t really had time to process why the team is considering Indiana. Sure, there are obvious reasons. The state has made a relentless push to lure them south, offering big-time incentives such as infrastructure support, property tax breaks, and the option to choose any viable location in the preferred area. It is all part of a state-wide effort to lure more big businesses to Indiana and kickstart a refurbishing of the entire northwest region.

Yet nobody has stopped to consider how football fans will react. For the past 40 years, Indiana has been widely considered the Indianapolis Colts’ unquestioned domain. They’ve resided there since 1984, been to two Super Bowls, and beat the Bears in 2006 to win the Lombardi trophy. One would think crossing the state border would be like walking into a forbidden zone. People would have zero interest in the Bears. However, that doesn’t sound like the case.

According to Indiana Senator Jim Banks, there are several fans in Indiana eager for them to come south, since they don’t feel much allegiance to the Colts beyond their obligation as state residents. Chicago would give them an alternative.

The Chicago Bears may smell an opportunity.

While they already have one of the NFL’s larger fanbases, there is every reason to seek ways to grow it. That isn’t the primary reason for moving to northwest Indiana. However, one fact can’t be overstated. There are just under 900,000 people living in the northwest region of that state. If the Bears can lure a healthy portion of them into the fandom, it means significantly more revenue. The average football fan spends around $750 per year on their favorite team. If the Bears were to get around half of those residents to convert (450,000), that equates to $337.5 million.

This doesn’t include other potential wells of eyes they could dip into across the rest of the state’s northern regions. Keep in mind that Indianapolis is located in the southern half of the state. It is 131 miles from the northern Indiana border. South Bend, the sixth-most populated city in the state, is actually closer to Chicago. Cole Kmet, one of the Bears’ best players, went to college at Notre Dame. They have potential inroads with the entire area. You can start to see the appeal from their perspective.

A slight change of geography can have wild effects.

Remember, Hammond, Indiana, is barely a 30-minute drive from downtown Chicago. You can still see the skyline from across Wolf Lake. It would be a city suburb if it weren’t across the Indiana border. Yet such a shift would present a chance to mine new veins of potential fans. The Chicago Bears already own pretty much the entire state of Illinois. It’s been that way for a century. There were no areas for them to dig into for new fans. The roots are already set. Moving to northwest Indiana would suddenly give them access to fertile new ground.

After all, the Bears have something to offer wavering Colts fans. They have a dynamic young coach in Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the NFL. The Colts are about to trot out Daniel Jones for another season. This probably isn’t something the McCaskeys thought about when Indiana first came up, but it’s sure to be on their minds now.

Few coaches on the Chicago Bears’ staff are under more pressure this coming season than Jeremy Garrett. His defensive line did not produce as hoped last season. The team only had 35 sacks, with Montez Sweat providing one third of them with 10.5. That is not good enough if you aspire to be a championship team. Yet the team didn’t do much adding to the group aside from some second-tier free agents and 6th round pick Jordan Van Den Berg. Head coach Ben Johnson made it plain as day that the team needed to “coach better” if they wanted positive results this season.

That was unquestionably a warning to Garrett. It’s his job to get the most out of these players, and he didn’t do that last season. So he set to work getting guys ready for 2026, stating his focus was on improving their get-offs, which, he hoped, would increase their pass-rush opportunities. Video of that approach surfaced online from Bears minicamps. It drew the attention of two NFL legends: Six-time Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.

Let’s just say neither of them was impressed with Garrett’s approach. In fact, they saw major red flags.

Jeremy Garrett continues to look like a weak link.

McCoy’s complaints center on some key areas. Quarterbacks are behind the center. Defensive linemen should be taught to win their battle with the blocker, then get up the field and chase the QB. Instead, they’re being taught to win the battle and make the tackle immediately. That will create confusion for the linemen because it is a scenario they will never encounter. Then you have the four-point stance. Outside of short-yardage situations, this is never used in the modern NFL. Having players use it in practice is completely pointless.

This raises questions about how qualified Jeremy Garrett is. Remember, McCoy and Sapp are two of the best defensive tackles ever to play the game. They combined for 156 sacks in their careers. They know a few things about how to play the position correctly. If they’re saying Garrett is doing it wrong, then he is. One must not forget that the Bears’ defensive line coach had limited NFL experience when he arrived last year. He was an assistant defensive line coach in Cleveland for two years and a defensive line coach in Jacksonville for one.

The Bears need to see results.

Johnson doesn’t strike as a head coach who tolerates poor performance for an extended period. If he doesn’t see progress from the defensive line this season, you can bet changes will be coming in 2027. That means players will be replaced and there is a good chance Garrett won’t be safe either. One must not forget that defensive coordinator Dennis Allen fired defensive line coach Bill Johnson in New Orleans after two seasons together. Johnson was on the Saints’ championship team in 2009. Garrett has no such credibility to his name.

Expectations are high this season. The Bears expect to continue competing in the NFC playoff picture. For that to happen, they need solid contributions from the defensive front. This season’s schedule is tough. Several good teams with good quarterbacks. Getting after them will be the difference between wins and losses. Leaning on Caleb Williams‘ late-game magic is not sustainable. Chicago must start playing complementary football. Garrett’s unit has more responsibility for that than most.

Caleb Williams is a divisive figure across the NFL landscape. We all know how Chicago Bears fans feel about him. After several decades of mostly inept quarterback play, he is like a cool breeze blowing through a scorched landscape. He’s the savior. The franchise. Of course, they’re biased. After witnessing seven 4th quarter comebacks, a division title, and a playoff win over the hated Green Bay Packers, it was almost inevitable that Williams would get the royal treatment across the media landscape from Bears fans.

So what about people who aren’t blinded by team loyalty? Well, we already know what the media thinks. Executives for Electronic Arts made Williams the latest player to grace the cover of Madden. He’s the Iceman, the new sheriff in town. That just leaves people inside the NFL itself. They are always the ones who are most difficult to impress. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reached out to several of them to gather their thoughts. The info he got back painted a clear picture.

Williams is a top 10 quarterback.

Caleb Williams is already a top guy despite obvious flaws.

It is no small thing that actual NFL people think he’s that good. Those people get paid a lot of money for their opinions on players. Their seeing him as a top-10 quarterback means the Bears are in that crucial zone of a consistent playoff contender. History says there is no way you can win from year to year without stability at that position. The question is do the numbers actually back this assertion up? Yes. And no. There is a rather significant juxtaposition with Williams that remains unmistakable.

This paints a pretty clear picture. Caleb Williams is unquestionably one of the most dynamic and explosive quarterbacks in the NFL. He is a master at making things happen. The problem is that he is not one of the most efficient. His completion percentage wasn’t great when he entered the league, and it hasn’t improved. It is a sore spot for head coach Ben Johnson, who believes stacking completions is critical to offensive success. Improving that is a top priority for the Bears.

This is the last hurdle to clear.

We already know Williams can hang with any defense he goes up against. He proved it time after time last season. The clutch factor is there. The explosive plays are there. It comes down to where he can do the boring stuff. Dump off a pass to the running back when the receivers and tight ends are covered. Settle for the five-yard curl when the vertical shot is taken away. This goes against Williams’ nature. He’s been a big-game hunter since he started playing the position as a kid.

Yet the NFL is not a contest of who can generate the most big plays. It is about who can play the chess match. Every move must be intended towards keeping the opponent on their heels, backing them into a corner until they have no choice but to concede. Sometimes that can be done in one swift strike. Most of the time, it requires a series of 10-12 smaller moves. Williams showed he could do that last year. It is just about consistency. He’s almost there.

Ian Wheeler was an unknown when he joined the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2024. All they knew was that he played at Howard University, where he doubled as a running back and kick returner. His name wasn’t mentioned much in training camp, but that changed in the preseason, where he put together some intriguing performances. Unfortunately, what looked like a potential chance to lock up a roster spot turned into a disaster when he tore his ACL in the finale against Kansas City.

It was a gutwrenching moment captured on HBO’s Hard Knocks. The sight of his mother, who was in the stands that night, breaking down at the realization was truly heartbreaking. He spent the entire season recovering from the injury. By the time he returned in 2025, the Bears had a new coaching staff and drafted a new running back (Kyle Monangai). He was waived after the preseason. That could’ve been the end of his football career. It has been for some.

Ian Wheeler refused to go out like that.

He had two choices. First, he could try out for another NFL team to see if he could get a camp invite. Or he could do something certain players are too proud to try: join the United Football League. Eager to play and prove himself, Wheeler signed with the Louisville Kings. He won the starting job and ended up leading the team in both yards (386) and touchdowns (6). Despite a 0-3 start to the season, Louisville rallied to finish 6-4 and make the playoffs, led by strong performances from Wheeler.

In the opener against St. Louis, he erupted for 89 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries on the way to a 29-20 win, sending the Kings to the UFL championship against the D.C. Defenders. This was the defending UFL champions and they played like it, jumping out to a 16-7 lead. However, Louisville started chipping away at the lead in the second half, taking it from 16-7 to 16-13. Then, on the first play of the 4th quarter, Ian Wheeler delivered what turned out to be the knockout blow with a 44-yard touchdown.

What a story this is.

People can say the UFL is nothing like the NFL. That is true, but it’s also not the point. Ian Wheeler was dealt what could’ve been a mortal blow to his dream. He overcame playing at a small school, was one step away from making the roster in Chicago, and saw it destroyed by one unfortunate play. Rather than give up, he fought his way back to full health and then gambled on himself by taking a chance in another league. Not only does he immediately win a title, but he also wins the UFL championship MVP.

There is no telling what the future holds for Wheeler. Perhaps this success will get him another look from the NFL. It should. The kid can obviously play. Still, even if things ended here, it is the cap to one of the most unheralded comeback stories in recent memory. Not all the great ones happen on the biggest stage. Wheeler deserves all the credit in the world. Many like him never got this opportunity. It is well-deserved.

It is time to accept reality. Kevin Warren said his goal was to get shovels in the ground on a new Chicago Bears stadium in 2025. That didn’t happen. After failing to secure the necessary legislation during the Illinois spring legislative session, their hopes for 2026 took a hit. That is why the team opted to shift its focus to Hammond, Indiana. With all the legislation out of the way, the only thing they have to do is pick a preferred site and start building, right? Nothing is ever that simple. At least not with this team.

One thing that has become abundantly clear about this process under Warren’s guidance is how half-baked the process is. It is clear the Bears haven’t done their homework in any of this. They didn’t provide Illinois with a crucial traffic study to secure the infrastructure funding they needed. Now it’s happening again. Both potential spots in Hammond have a similar issue. Large swaths of land sit on wetlands, which are environmentally protected. That means the Bears must obtain court approval if they wish to build there.

It sure doesn’t sound like they’re in a hurry to do that.

The Chicago Bears will carry this into 2027.

There are no signs at this point that any decision is remotely close. Legislation in Illinois is deadlocked until at least the fall. Indiana faces two environmental roadblocks that typically take over a year to resolve due to the extensive logistics involved. That is assuming the Bears can win the necessary court battles. In other words, unless they achieve some sort of miracle and can get a special session called this summer, there is no way they will get everything in order to start building this year.

Not that it is surprising. All we have to do is look at how Warren has operated throughout his tenure. Nothing about his time as president has come across as organized. His pivot away from Arlington Heights to downtown Chicago in 2024 was the first sign that he has an extremely poor track record of common sense. Warren is a dreamer. He has plenty of big ideas but no concept of how to make them a reality. A smart and seasoned executive would’ve understood the first step in this process was learning who he was dealing with in Springfield.

Fans had best get used to watching games at Soldier Field.

Don’t forget the Chicago Bears’ lease to that stadium runs through 2033. At the rate things are going, there is a growing possibility it will expire before a new building is even finished. Warren said it takes three years for the stadium to go from start to finish in construction. That means they must start building by 2030 if they hope to avoid such a humiliation. You’d think there is no way it would take another four years for the Bears to navigate the red tape, but that would be giving them too much credit.

This is the same franchise that needed 74 years to find a franchise quarterback.

Much depends on Warren. Pressure is mounting on him with each passing week. He may act self-assured in public, but nothing to date suggests he is in control. It is more like he keeps throwing things at the wall, hoping something sticks. It took him three years before even bringing Indiana into the conversation. Nobody in Springfield likes or respects him. One has to wonder if George McCaskey should consider putting someone else in charge. He’s already losing money with each passing month this goes on.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams knew the team had to get the next head coach right. Matt Eberflus had crashed and burned. If the team couldn’t find someone capable of developing the young quarterback, his career and their hopes of escaping the NFL cellar would be crushed. That is why the Bears made a determined push from the outset to lure Ben Johnson from Detroit. Everybody knew his reputation as an offensive wizard. If anybody could get Williams back on track, it was him. Rumors even indicated that the quarterback was pushing for it behind the scenes.

It didn’t take long for Williams to realize he may have bitten off more than he could chew. Throughout his career up to that point, he’d played in simple, streamlined offenses that allowed him to use his athletic gifts to the fullest extent. Johnson had no intention of doing that. His system was deep and complex, demanding a lot of the quarterback, both pre- and post-snap. Williams had never imagined an offense could be so dense. He admitted at his recent press conference that there were times last year when it almost broke him.

“It’s a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year just because it was — I was saying it to [running backs coach Eric Studesville], ‘Dude, I feel like I was drowning trying to breathe or stay alive and wait for a boat to come around last year,'” Williams said. “Now this year, it’s being able to start where we finished last year, playcalls and words and verbiage and speak the same language, and now it’s being able to grow more from an earlier stage than maybe doing it a little bit earlier in the season or halfway through the season, speaking on things that really help throughout the year. That’s the advantage.”

Caleb Williams got his first taste of a real NFL offense.

That reaction is far more standard than some would have you believe. College offenses are simple out of necessity. They’re meant to maximize a team’s athleticism and speed. Since the talent level isn’t overly high, given how many teams there are, it’s much easier to put up big numbers and win games. That isn’t the case in the NFL. Defenses are way too smart, fast, and prepared. Simplistic approaches are asking for trouble. That is why coaches work to install more complex schemes. It is time-consuming and can have early bumps in the road, but the long-term payoff is often worth it.

The big question that every team faces is whether the quarterback is up to the challenge. Many of the guys coming out of college never experienced anything like a true NFL offense. Most of them have zero concept of the complex language and responsibilities involved. That is why you see so many young quarterbacks crash and burn after dominating college football. By the sound of it, Caleb Williams felt that same pain early in the season. Based on his own admission, it wasn’t until the second Vikings game in mid-November that things started clicking.

The toughest hurdle has been cleared.

History says that you should notice whether a young quarterback is getting it by his second season. It was clear Williams had more flow and urgency down the stretch of last year. It wasn’t perfect, but his ability to execute the offense as intended was considerably better. Going into practice this past month, the feeling is night and day. He understands the terminology and knows what to do on every play. That allows him to execute things faster. These are the fruits of Johnson’s labor.

Williams has said he knows the goals for this season. It is efficiency. Work to get the ball out of his hands on time and on target. This leads to greater efficiency, which keeps defenses on their heels. Johnson doesn’t want to squash Williams’ preternatural ability to improvise. It’s about recognizing that sometimes such heroics aren’t necessary. After spending all offseason reviewing game film, the quarterback is starting to understand why.

Illinois fumbled the ball at the goal line during the spring legislative session. All they had to do was get a revised bill through the House after the Senate passed it. Instead, they didn’t even vote on it, citing too many unknowns. Shortly after that, the Chicago Bears focused on Hammond, Indiana. They are currently inspecting multiple sites. Many feel that once they make a definitive selection, that is the whole ballgame. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has insisted he is willing to call a special session of the legislature this summer if the Bears can put forward a bill that clearly articulates what they want.

While he hasn’t personally offered solutions, other members of the government are working towards one. Two Republican state representatives have put forward alternative options they believe have a better chance of garnering more widespread support. Dan Ugaste is looking into a revised version of the megaprojects bill, which did make it through the House before dying in the Senate. Perhaps the more interesting idea comes from Martin McLaughlin. His bill is focused entirely on Arlington Heights, simplifying things to minimize uncertainty.

This is only about the Chicago Bears. Nobody else.

McLaughlin’s plan calls for allowing the Bears to spend up to $2.5 billion to build a stadium that the team would own and the state to spend $1.2 billion on infrastructure. Lawmakers had generally been considering about $800 million in infrastructure for Arlington Heights had legislation moved forward.

McLaughlin’s bill would not include the PILOT and instead would set a value for the property that would increase by 2.5% each year over a 30-year deal. McLaughlin told Capitol News Illinois it would also include an oversight committee to ensure local governments don’t shift additional taxes toward other residents and businesses.

McLaughlin said his bill would only apply to Arlington Park, calling it the only viable site for a new stadium in Illinois. He said the municipality demonstrated its ability to host large events when the former horse racing track occupied the site.

“It really answers a lot of the uncertainty questions that the Bears had and I’m hoping that it incentivizes the Bears to maybe rethink Illinois because I think we made the deal too complex,” he said.

This proposal does something crucial.

Part of the problem with the original megaprojects bill, according to several government officials, was that it didn’t adequately protect all taxpayers from exploitation. Pritzker has said on several occasions that he will not allow taxpayer money to be used to supplement projects for billionaires. This proposal from McLaughlin furthers the approach the Senate started in May, narrowing the focus from the entire state to just the Bears. Give them something to work with in Arlington Heights.

This seems like the best way for all sides to get what they want. Most taxpayers are protected from property tax hikes. The Bears get the green light to negotiate them in Arlington. It feels like the sticking point will be infrastructure support. There is no way around it. Illinois will have to help with that if any such project can work without creating chaos. That is why the $1.2 billion idea may not fly in Springfield. However, the good news is that such things can be negotiated.

Everything depends on urgency.

The Chicago Bears have operated as if they’re desperate to get this thing done. Yet their actions don’t indicate as much. For one, they haven’t even applied to do environmental studies at the two potential sites in Hammond. This is unusual, as both present issues with federally protected local wetlands. If they were dead set on getting shovels in the ground this year, then that seems like something they’d want to fast-track. Instead, every indication is that their announcement of a focus shift was nothing more than a leverage play to force Springfield into addressing the issue.

Reactions from individuals like McLaughlin would suggest it is working, at least to a degree. The problem is that they need several more votes before anything can get done. It’s been demonstrated several times that the Bears don’t have the ability to navigate the complicated situation down there. Hence, they push, pull, headfake, and threaten because they have no idea how to do anything else.

Drafting a left tackle early would’ve been nice. After the revolving door the Chicago Bears went through last season, finding a definitive long-term starter was high on the agenda. Unfortunately, their options were limited. There was a massive run on the position early in the 1st round. By the time the Bears were on the clock, the position was picked clean. Rather than force the issue, they pivoted to safety Dillon Thieneman. That decision made things clear. Until Ozzy Trapilo returned healthy, the job would be determined in a training camp battle between Braxton Jones and Jedrick Wills.

The parallels between the two are pretty notable. Both became starters as rookies and played well. Then, a couple of seasons in, injuries started hitting. Jones fractured his fibula towards the end of the 2024 season. Wills missed all of 2025 with a serious knee injury. Much of the upcoming battle would be determined by who could stay healthy. However, if we’re to believe that which player gets the most snaps with the first-team offense is indicative of who’s leading the race, then early signs are not good for Wills.

The Chicago Bears will go with who they trust more.

Here’s what we know. Prior to last season, both head coach Ben Johnson and offensive line coach Dan Roushar stated their admiration for Jones. They loved his size and mobility. With some adjustments to his approach, he had plenty of room to grow. The problem was the leg injury. Jones returned in time for training camp last year, but some wondered if he’d rushed back too quickly out of fear of losing his job. The Bears had drafted Trapilo in the 2nd round. Jones admitted early this week that he never felt right last season, which contributed to his poor play.

“A big piece of it is simply feeling right from the lower half and from the injuries,” Jones said. “Last year I was still in a good place but I just didn’t trust it. I didn’t trust the positions I was putting myself in, and when you don’t trust that, you’re never going to put a good outcome out there.

“So just continuing to trust that what’s happened, the procedures I’ve had, is fine and everything’s good, everything’s strong. And that’s really what it is.”

It certainly showed on the field. Jones didn’t look comfortable in pass protection and couldn’t generate any power in the run game. Eventually, Johnson benched him in favor of Theo Benedet. Jones was later put on IR for the rest of the season. It was a humbling experience, and seemed to invigorate him into making some changes. He worked with Terron Armstead, a former All-Pro who played for Roushar, to improve his overall technique while also transforming his body. He arrived at spring practices “yolked up,” as Johnson described.

One must not forget Jones pre-injury.

He had the best season of his career in 2024. Through 471 snaps, he’d allowed just 26 pressures on the quarterback. This was despite Caleb Williams constantly holding the ball longer than preferred because he was a rookie in a bad offense. Then he went down against Detroit and missed the rest of the year. It happening in late December complicated matters. Broken fibulas can take up to 6 months to heal. That means he would not have ended rehabilitation until late June the following year.

It’s no wonder he didn’t trust the leg. He hadn’t had enough time to work on it before he was thrown into a brand new offense. That is no longer an issue. Jones is fully healthy and seems unconcerned about the leg. The same can’t be said of Wills, who already missed some practice time in minicamps. Unless there is a significant shift when the pads go on next month, it feels like Jones is now the heavy favorite to secure the Chicago Bears starting job.

Ben Johnson hasn’t done anything to hide his vision for the Chicago Bears from the moment he took over as head coach. He wanted a smart, tough, and physical football team that played with orchestrated violence. The best way to do that, in his mind, was through running the football. It seemed counterintuitive. For literal decades, every new offensive wunderkind professed passing the ball as the future of the sport and the only true way to win. Anybody who embraced the running game was called backwards and old-fashioned.

However, anybody who knows football understands that it’s cyclical. There was always going to be a time when defenses would adjust to the pass-happy league the NFL became. When that happened, offenses had to adjust. That meant one thing: running the ball. Johnson is at the forefront of that resurgence, crafting one of the most consistently devastating attacks in the sport. What makes it so effective is his constant effort to improve it with new ideas.

People have no idea how obsessed he is with this process. In fact, it was part of the reason why he hired new running backs coach Eric Studesville.

Ben Johnson idolizing McDaniel’s work is such nerd behavior.

He’s like a computer programmer working on a video game and suddenly sees another programmer release a new engine with state-of-the-art graphics. That inevitably makes Johnson want to dig into the code and mine its secrets. McDaniel has a well-deserved reputation as one of the best run game specialists in the NFL. He got 18 touchdowns from Raheem Mostert in 2022, and over 1300 rushing yards from De’Von Achane last season. His scheme is diverse, complex, and more than a little unconventional.

One of his great strengths is the use of motion. He maneuvers players around the line of scrimmage like chess pieces, creating confusion for the defense while putting his blockers in the best possible spots. This helps them create advantageous angles to seal off lanes that the running backs slice through for big plays. He also has a great knack for running different plays out of alignments that look similar. This is a core principle Johnson adheres to, so it’s no wonder he’s fascinated by McDaniel’s scheme.

Another factor is play action.

Ben Johnson is a huge proponent of play fakes and marrying them with the run game for maximum effect. Well, so is McDaniel. Every run he designs seems to have a play action concept built into it, allowing him to constantly freeze linebackers and defensive ends, creating time for the quarterback to find his open man. His offense was 1st in 2022 and 5th in 2023 in passing yards off play action. That was with Tua Tagovailoa as his quarterback, who doesn’t have anywhere near the same talent as Caleb Williams.

Johnson is likely eager to see what those same concepts can accomplish when applied to a more capable quarterback. It is another reminder that, while other offensive coaches constantly work to find new tricks in the passing game, he is leading a renaissance on the ground. It seems incredibly fitting that Johnson is doing this in Chicago, a franchise with one of the most storied running back traditions in NFL history.

After losing Ian Cunningham to the Atlanta Falcons general manager job, the only notable move the Chicago Bears made in response was promoting Jeff King to become the new assistant general manager. It wasn’t a surprise. King had been a rising star inside Halas Hall over the past couple of years, earning the respect and trust of general manager Ryan Poles. Outside of that, nothing else happened. Most expected the Bears to maintain the status quo across their scouting department and front office.

That turned out not to be the case. News has surfaced in the past few days that the team has done some reshuffling of its talent evaluation groups. It started when Nick Papagno, their combine scout of the past two years, was promoted to take over the Midlands region as an area scout. This covers the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas.

It didn’t stop there. Several more moves soon followed. Jeff Shiver, the team’s ageless scout who’s been with the team for decades, was promoted to Senior Executive Scout. One of their national scouts, Breck Ackley, was elevated to Director of Player Personnel. Trey Koziol, who’d be a Co-Director of Player Personnel alongside King, was promoted to Senior Director of Player Personnel. Lastly, Andrea White has become the team’s new Football Administration & Analytics Manager.

The Chicago Bears have established a clearer pecking order.

Now there is no debate about who is involved in the succession plan; should one of the team’s top executives be plucked, as Cunningham was? Don’t forget that King received interest for GM positions a couple of years ago. The Bears’ success last season is almost certain to have elevated his profile. Now the team has a plan in place for if and when that happens. Koziol is next in line behind King. After that, it appears Ackley is positioning himself for advancement. That is certainly a fun story.

Ackley was a college coach at first after his playing career ended. However, in 2012, he joined the Bears as an area scout. The first three seasons were spent in the Midwest before he transitioned to the Southwest. He would remain there for the next eight seasons. His work earned him a promotion to Assistant Director of College Scouting in 2023 and then Director of College Scouting in 2024. His winning of the BART Award, which pinpoints the best scouts in the NFL, was a sign that the Bears had found a good one. Giving him more authority should only improve their talent evaluation process.

One thing remains clear about the Bears.

They are very much an insular organization. While other franchises often bring in scouts or executives from elsewhere to supplement their building, the Chicago Bears have gone in the other direction. They prefer building from within, rewarding scouts who excel with advancement up the chain. It certainly fosters a great deal of loyalty inside Halas Hall and makes it easier for everybody to be on the same page. The trade-off is that it can be difficult to find competing voices at times, which is necessary if the evaluation of a certain player is flawed.

Whatever the case, the Bears are clearly happy with how things are constructed. Head coach Ben Johnson certainly doesn’t have any issues. He is the one with final authority over the roster. If he wanted changes, he could get them. Instead, he seems to trust these men to identify the types of players he prefers. Based on how the 2025 draft went last season, he has good reasons to do so. If the 2026 class produces similar results, it may not be long before others are poached.