As the two-time reigning offseason champions, the Bears have another banner to raise. Will it result in more wins this time?
Move over, ’90s Bulls, there is a new champ in town. The Chicago Bears have done something that the Chiefs could only dream of: back-to-back-to-back. A Three-Peat.
The Chicago Bears have won another offseason. Let’s do a quick recap of what they have done to this point:
- Hired the top coaching candidate Ben Johnson to be their Head Coach.
- Hired the top DC available Dennis Allen to be their Defensive Coordinator.
- Traded for former Pro Bowl OG Jonah Jackson.
- Traded for All-Everything OG Joe Thuney.
- Signed top remaining OL Drew Dalman to be their starting Center.
- Signed young ascending talent Dayo Odeyingbo to be their DE opposite Sweat.
- Signed long-time wrecking ball Grady Jarrett to be a veteran factor on the DL.
- Signed speedy WR Olamide Zaccheaus to round out the WR room.
All of this has come before the NFL draft, where the Bears have three picks in the top 41. Needless to say, Ryan Poles has done a phenomenal job of improving this football team, and he still has more time to add talent.
While the general consensus largely points to the Bears being the offseason winners, there might be a pit in all Bears’ fans stomachs knowing how previous offseason victories have not translated to on-field success.
So for today’s question: is the 2025 offseason different than 2024 and 2023? Will it lead to more on-field success?
My answer is yes, and I will tell you two reasons why.
- Ben Johnson.
- Trenches.
Bears fans have been penciling in Ben Johnson’s name as their head coach for as long as it took for them to realize that Matt Eberflus is nothing more than bewildering acronym with a $60 haircut.
Since being hired, Ben Johnson has done nothing but show fans that he is here to win, no matter how much work that may take.
Love this mindset from Ben Johnson pic.twitter.com/Jzsm2rUmZK
— Dave (@dave_bfr) March 13, 2025
Ben Johnson simply feels different than the likes of Matt Eberflus, Matt Nagy, John Fox, and Mark Trestman. He seems to have the rare combination of strong communication skills, intense desire to succeed, and technical proficiency. His hiring alone is enough to make this offseason feel “different.”
But wait, there is more. The Bears did something that has felt like window dressing in the last decade, and that’s investing heavily in both lines. Between Thuney, Jarrett, and Jackson alone, their new acquisitions have accumulated 6 Pro Bowls and 6 All-Pros, and indication that the Bears are serious about adding established talent to the roster. Add in young talents like Odeyingbo and Dalman, and the Bears seem to have made a concerted effort in the trenches.
In 2024, the Bears’ biggest moves included the drafting of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, and the signing of D’Andre Swift and Keenan Allen. An exceptional offseason, but their most prominent Linemen acquired were Kiran Amegadjie, Matt Pryor, and Coleman Shelton.
In 2023, the Bears’ biggest move was clearly the trade that brought in Darnell Wright and DJ Moore. Add to this the additions of Andrew Billings, Demarcus Walker, and Nate Davis, and there was certainly an effort to improve the trenches – but none of these players entered Halas Hall as established and successful the same way Thuney, Jarrett, and Jackson are.
Time will tell if this year will be any different than the disappointments that were 2023 and 2024. Something about the addition of Ben Johnson and the emphasis on improving up front tells me it will be.