As Chicago Cubs baseball ramps back up, one quote managed to cut through the noise.

“He’s my guy—we both plan on and hope that we will be in Chicago for a long time.”

That quote came from Pete Crow-Armstrong, and while he was speaking from a sports perspective, the meaning stretches far beyond that. Crow-Armstrong was talking about his relationship with Caleb Williams, and it says a lot about where Chicago sports are right now.

This is not a forced connection or a PR-driven friendship. Over the past few months, Williams and Crow-Armstrong have been seen together at charity events, Bulls games and Blackhawks games, sitting courtside or along the glass like regular fans. No cameras needed. No branding push. Just two young stars showing support for the city and each other.

That matters.

For a long time, Chicago has struggled to build overlap between its franchises. Stars sometimes lived in separate bubbles. There was no shared identity. What we are seeing now feels different. Williams and Crow-Armstrong genuinely enjoy being around each other. Their friendship feels organic, not manufactured.

That circle also includes Matas Buzelis, the Bulls’ young star who represents hope for the franchise’s next era. And on the ice, Connor Bedard is already one of the faces of the city, carrying the Blackhawks into their next chapter with star power and expectations.

Four young stars. Four franchises. One city.

As the Chicago Cubs gear up for the season, Crow-Armstrong brings energy and swagger back to Wrigley. Williams brings belief and direction to the Chicago Bears. Buzelis brings upside to the Bulls. Bedard brings star gravity to the Chicago Blackhawks.

I love this duo. I love that these friendships are authentic and not forced. Add Buzelis and Bedard to the mix, and Chicago finally has a real core of young stars who want to grow here together. That feels different. And it feels real.

The NFL Just Motivated Ben Johnson

The Chicago Bears took a calculated risk last year when they flipped a 4th round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for left guard Joe Thuney. Though the former All-Pro was already 33 years old, head coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles felt his elite level of play and remarkable consistency gave them favorable odds to get a perfect plug for their offensive line. He responded with another All-Pro season, winning the first-ever Protector of the Year award.

That trade became one of the best in Bears history after just one season. It also leads to an interesting question. Are there any Thuney-like trade opportunities to be had in 2026? Here are the parameters.

• Player must be on the older side
• He must be at least good
• His current team can’t really afford to keep him

I did some research and found five names that semi-fit the criteria, all of whom are at positions of need for the Bears.

These players could pull a Joe Thuney of their own.

LB Pete Werner

The New Orleans Saints are $6 million over the salary cap at present. While not usually prone to trading their own players, this is a somewhat special case. Werner had been a core part of their defense since being drafted in the 2nd round in 2021. However, the arrival of a new coaching staff last year led to a dip in his playing time. Some wonder whether changes are on the horizon, and whether Werner could be a casualty. Trading him with a post-June 1st designation would secure the Saints over $6 million in cap space.

Chicago’s interest should be obvious. Noah Sewell is a free agent this spring, and there are rampant rumors that the team may move on from Tremaine Edmunds and his hefty contract. Werner played under Dennis Allen for four seasons in New Orleans, amassing 327 tackles, two forced fumbles, an interception, and half a sack. He may not be a superstar, but he knows the defense and would be a dependable starter.

DT Kenny Clark

After several years of outstanding play with the Green Bay Packers, Clark was unceremoniously shipped off to the Dallas Cowboys last season as part of the blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons. It was a reminder of how cold and ruthless the NFL can be. Unsurprisingly, Clark handled it with class and put together a solid season with the Cowboys, collecting three sacks and 44 pressures. He didn’t miss a single game. However, with Quinnen Williams in the building as well, Dallas is $29 million over the cap. Trading Clark, who turns 31 this year, would secure $21 million in space.

It isn’t a secret that the Bears need help at defensive tackle. Andrew Billings is a free agent and seemed to lose steam after an injury in 2024. Grady Jarrett didn’t make much of an impact for most of the year after the team signed him as a free agent. Adding Clark alongside Gervon Dexter would give Chicago a respectable interior rush duo for next season. Both had 44 pressures last year. That pairing would allow Poles to focus more on finding a nose tackle in the draft to replace Billings.

S Minkah Fitzpatrick

Several years ago, the Miami Dolphins famously traded safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he became an All-Pro. Last season, in a strange twist of fate, the Steelers traded him back to Miami for cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith. Fitzpatrick had a solid season with 82 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception despite missing three games. However, the Dolphins are $16 million over the cap and now have a new front office and coaching staff in charge. Trading the 29-year-old safety would net them $5.8 million in cap space, or $15.6 million with a post-June 1st designation.

Remember, the Bears traded for Joe Thuney because they had a major crisis at guard with multiple vacancies. Such is the case at safety this year. Both of their 2025 starters, Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, are free agents. C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Jonathan Owens are also set to hit the market. With so much uncertainty, it would make sense for Chicago to trade for somebody proven. Fitzpatrick has one year left on his current deal. Extending him to lower his cap hit wouldn’t be difficult, giving Allen’s defense a playmaker on the back end who is still at the tail end of his prime.

LT Ronnie Stanley

Few players have been a model of stability for their team quite like Stanley. Despite a constantly churning roster, the two-time Pro Bowler has been there since all the way back in 2016. However, the Ravens have some critical free agents they need to retain this offseason, highlighted by center Tyler Linderbaum and tight end Isaiah Likely. This could force them into the difficult decision of unloading Stanley, who turns 32 next month, despite another solid season in 2025.

Left tackle has become a serious issue for the Bears since Ozzy Trapilo tore his patellar tendon in the wild card win over Green Bay. He could miss most of the 2026 season. Worse still, Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet are free agents. The team has no solution for this problem. Stanley has two years left on his current contract, with this season’s cap hit a modest $9.8 million. The Bears need dependability at that spot, and Stanley is no stranger to blocking for a highly mobile quarterback.

EDGE Danielle Hunter

It isn’t a secret that the Bears need a pass rusher. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker were fine, but it still felt like they lacked a true dynamic presence. Hunter has quietly been one of the greatest edge rushers of his generation. He has 114.5 sacks before his 32nd birthday and is a central part of the Houston Texans’ dominant defense. Unfortunately for Houston, they must prepare to hand out two massive contract extensions to Will Anderson and C.J. Stroud. Not to mention, they need to pay guard Ed Ingram as well. Sacrificing Hunter might be necessary.

Hunter is in the last year of his deal and counts $31 million against the cap. Chicago should be able to do the same thing they did with Thuney by locking him up to a contract extension, which should lower that hit. Despite being 31, Hunter is playing excellent football. Great pass rushers tend to remain productive into their mid-30s. So the Bears should get at least two or three more great years from him.

The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs noted that Arizona Cardinals passing game specialist Connor Senger could be a name to watch for the Bears’ open passing game coordinator role. This comes after the Bears hired Press Taylor as offensive coordinator. Biggs added that Senger interviewed for the OC job before it went to Taylor. The idea is that Senger could still land in Chicago in a different role, with Brian Lawing potentially sliding into an offensive assistant spot. Nothing is finalized. This is very much a wait and see situation that may not be resolved until closer to the scouting combine.

“Maybe he would be a candidate to become the passing game coordinator. Don’t discount that possibility”

There is no confirmation the Bears have made a final decision on the rest of the offensive staff. What exists right now is interest, past interaction, and a logical fit based on how this staff is coming together.

Senger is a younger offensive coach who has built a strong reputation working with quarterbacks and passing concepts. In Arizona, he has been closely involved in game planning, route design, and weekly adjustments. Around the league, he is viewed as a rising coach who understands modern passing structure and how to tailor it to player strengths. That background matters given where the Bears offense has been and where it is trying to go.

Why This Makes Sense for the Bears

The Bears’ scoring offense over the last five seasons tells the story clearly. In 2021, the team averaged 18.3 points per game. In 2022, that number climbed slightly to 19.2. In 2023, it reached 21.2. In 2024, it dropped back to 18.2. Then in 2025, it jumped to 25.7 points per game. That jump is not random. That is the Ben Johnson effect.

Ben Johnson’s system has changed how defenses have to play the Bears. It has improved spacing, sequencing, and red zone efficiency. Any young offensive coach would want to be part of that environment. Learning under Johnson while working alongside Press Taylor is a clear path to future opportunity and future money.

From the Bears’ point of view, adding Senger would be about depth and continuity. Passing game coordinator is not a headline role, but it is an important one. It helps protect the offense from stagnation and keeps fresh ideas flowing. It also gives the staff a built in succession option if other coaches are hired away down the road.

If the Bears can pull Senger into this staff, they should do it. The offense finally has momentum. This is how you sustain it. You surround your core with coaches who are hungry, current, and aligned with the system. That does not guarantee success, but it gives the Bears their best chance to keep moving forward.

What I Am Hearing

What I am hearing right now is that there is no rush to fill this role. The Bears are being patient. Ben Johnson is comfortable taking his time and making sure the fit is right rather than forcing a hire just to fill a title.

That patience lines up with how this offseason has unfolded so far. The Bears believe they finally have an offensive foundation that works. There is no urgency to disrupt that by making a quick decision that does not fully align with the vision.

That said, Connor Senger remains a name worth watching. If the Bears can swing it, he would be a strong addition to this staff. His background in the passing game and his exposure to modern offensive structure fit where this offense is headed. He would also benefit from learning under Johnson in a system that is clearly producing results.

Nothing is imminent. But if Senger ends up in Chicago, it would make sense on both sides.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is in the process of crafting a plan of attack for the upcoming 2026 NFL draft. The scouting combine arrives at the end of February, marking the last major event to gather top prospects before pro days begin in March. From there, he, head coach Ben Johnson, the scouting department, and the coaching staff will collaborate on forming a draft board, intent on pinpointing players they like. Simulations will be run to determine who has the best chance of falling and which positions they might want to focus on.

This is where things get interesting. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune revealed that the Bears aren’t unaware of their defensive line’s shortcomings. They know it needs work. To that end, Poles might be planning a rare strategy to address it.

The Bears are deep into the evaluation stage when it comes to free agency, the draft and exploring what might be available via other avenues, including trades. What will it look like when the new league year opens March 11? I expect the Bears to look for some combination of veterans and draft picks to fortify the defensive line and give coordinator Dennis Allen more talent, competition and depth in the trenches. I imagine you could see one veteran acquired, and in a good draft for defensive linemen, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Bears used two of their top four picks to supplement that room.

Using two picks in the top four rounds on the same position group doesn’t happen often in the NFL. That is because teams have many other needs to address and only so many picks. The Bears have done it four times in the past 25 years.

Ryan Poles’ reason for double-dipping is a sound one.

Part of it is creating competition, but the more calculating angle is this. It improves the odds of a team landing at least one good player at that position. The evidence shows in three of the four cases listed above. Dexter has become a solid player for the Bears. Manning was a dependable safety during his time in Chicago, while Hester became a Hall of Fame return man. Harris was a Pro Bowl interior pass rusher, while Johnson was a quality nose tackle before off-the-field issues ruined his career.

It is easy to misfire on a position once in a draft. Misfiring twice is much tougher. Ryan Poles will have talent depth on his side. Many experts believe this class is loaded along the entire defensive front. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network listed eight edge rushers and five defensive tackles in his top 50 prospects alone. That tells us the Bears have favorable odds of landing at least one of them in the first two rounds. Those odds go up if they decide to strike in the 1st and 2nd rounds consecutively. Everything depends on how the board falls on opening night.

Free agency will likely determine where this goes.

The Bears will have nowhere near enough money to go after multiple options on the veteran market. A far more likely scenario is that Poles will pool his available cash and pursue one prominent name at a key position. Depending on who they land, the Bears GM will then focus on the position he couldn’t address. For example, if he lands a quality defensive tackle like John Franklin-Myers in March, expect him to focus on adding multiple edge rushers in the draft. By contrast, if he lands Trey Hendrickson in free agency, expect two defensive tackles in the draft.

There will be other minor additions on a cheap contract. Either depth guys or low-risk-high-reward names who might do well with a change of scenery. The Bears have already seen it happen with Nahshon Wright. They’ll try again next month. Depending on how they do, it should narrow Poles’ focus come April 23rd.

The common story you hear about great head coaches is that you often never see them coming. They’ll succeed as an assistant, but the credit is often given to the head coach or the talented roster. Only when the man runs his own team do people realize he’s the real deal. Apparently, that wasn’t the case with Ben Johnson. After being fired by the Miami Dolphins, he latched on with the Detroit Lions as a quality control coach in 2019. A year later, he was promoted to tight ends coach. Not long after that, whispers about him began to make the rounds in the NFL circles. Those quickly reached the ears of Kirk Cousins.

The former Pro Bowl quarterback has had the good fortune to play for some excellent offensive coaches in his long career. He happened to have some former teammates in Detroit when Johnson took over the tight ends. Cousins told CHGO that he quickly started getting excited updates from them.

“I remember he was the TEs coach in Detroit and I was getting whispers from guys who I had played with who were in Detroit. They were texting me like ‘This tight end coach is the real deal. He’s gonna be a dude someday.’ So people knew. Then he becomes the OC and they started to turn as a team once he did. Guys were texting me, ‘This is Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan. We got that kind of guy here.’”

The most likely culprit in this revelation was defensive end Everson Griffen. He was teammates with Cousins in 2018 and 2019 before being traded to Dallas. He then signed with the Lions in 2020, the same year Johnson was promoted.

Landing a Ben Johnson is all about timing and luck.

You have to understand that coaches of this caliber do not come around very often. There have been maybe a handful in that category in the past 50 years. Here is a breakdown of when they were hired as a head coach.

So typically, you’re looking at a gap of around 7-10 years when these guys pop up. The amount of luck involved in hiring one of them is uncanny. You need to have a vacancy at the right time and present a situation that they find intriguing enough to take over. One misstep and they’re ending up with another team. The Bears didn’t have a vacancy in 1979. The job opened a year after Gibbs jumped in 1981. They didn’t even interview Reid in 1999 despite having a vacancy. Lovie Smith was firmly entrenched in 2006, and the Bears wanted to give John Fox another year despite going 3-13 in 2016.

At last, after so many years of missed opportunities, they got that guy. Ben Johnson might actually be the best fit, too. His personality and coaching style seem to fit Chicago better than many of the coaches who have held that job over the past 30 years. Adding actual offensive genius on top of that is like hot fudge on a five-star dessert.

History paints a bright picture for the Bears’ future.

Great offensive minds who also turn out to be great head coaches tend to win a lot of football games. Walsh and Gibbs won three Super Bowls apiece. Reid has three Super Bowls. McVay won his ring in 2021. Payton got his in 2009. You also have guys like Jon Gruden, Bruce Arians, and Mike Shanahan, who were considered the brightest minds of their respective eras. All won at least one championship. People often forget that George Halas himself was considered an offensive innovator in his early days, crafting the iconic T-formation that won multiple championships in the 1930s and 1940s.

The simple reality is this. If the Bears keep the roster stacked with good talent moving forward, Ben Johnson will win games. He’s proven he knows how to innovate and motivate. Players respect him, and he understands the requirements of a head coach. There will be cutting corners on this team. Every detail matters. Either learn to embrace them, or find another team to play for.

The Chicago Bears are preparing for an important offseason. They’ve finally cracked the postseason for the first time in years. Now comes the hard part: maintaining their grip on the division and making a run at the Super Bowl. To do that, they must try to keep the roster they have intact as much as possible while also adding to it. The issue is they’ll have to do it with limited salary cap space and draft picks sitting in the back end of every round. Unfortunately, there is also another problem for Bears general manager Ryan Poles to tackle.

ESPN insider Adam Schefter recently revealed some telling information on his podcast. From what he’s hearing, the opinions of both the free agent and draft classes for the upcoming offseason inside the NFL are lukewarm at best. He believes this will result in teams being more aggressive on the trade market than in other years. This could play into the Bears’ hands. Poles has shown a particular knack for wheeling and dealing since he took over the Bears in 2022.

Ryan Poles isn’t afraid to churn the roster via trades before the draft.

Since taking over, he has conducted seven trades in March. Some of them have had a significant impact on the Bears’ fortunes, often for the better. One of them took place just last year.

It isn’t uncommon for Poles to target players who may fill a specific need for his team without risking them getting to free agency. Other times, he takes advantage of teams facing salary cap problems or a lack of leadership at the top. That is how he fleeced Carolina in 2023 and then got Thuney from Kansas City. He’s also not afraid to trade players if he feels it is necessary for the franchise’s long-term stability.

Chicago has a few names on the payroll that they may consider shipping elsewhere due to cap issues of their own. D.J. Moore, Cole Kmet, Tremaine Edmunds, and De’Andre Swift stand out as possibilities. Then there is the possibility of plugging a need with a player from another team. Here, it becomes about who is or isn’t available.

The Bears could have some intriguing options at the right price.

Players are often traded for specific reasons. Some become too expensive to keep due to cap constraints (Thuney). Others were supplanted on the depth chart by someone else (Jackson). Then there are some who just want out because of a toxic situation. Ryan Poles’ job is to find players who meet those criteria and make the necessary calls to see if they’re available. An initial look at the current landscape indicates a few interesting names.

Much of this depends on how big a risk the Bears are prepared to take. Thibodeaux only played ten games and had 2.5 sacks last season. Little gave up 50 pressures this past season, which was a considerable regression. Clark turns 31 in October. Baker has two years left on the $54 million extension he signed in December of 2024. Werner would be the cheapest, but also the least impactful. It’s a tough decision for Poles to sort through, not just with them but with other options as well.