Bears Make Announcement on Lions’ Ben Johnson Amid Coaching Search

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Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions.

The Chicago Bears are deep into the first round of interviews in their search for a new head coach following a disappointing 5-12 campaign.

On Saturday, Chicago announced that it had completed its first interview with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson who has the week off as his team captured the No. 1 overall seed in NFC after winning the division for the second consecutive year.

“We have completed an interview with head coach candidate Ben Johnson,” Chicago posted to its official X account.

Johnson is among the most important candidates, as he has been a frontrunner for the job since the team fired Matt Eberflus following its late-game loss to Detroit at Ford Field on Thanksgiving Day.

Early reports suggested that Johnson, an offensive guru and arguably the most sought-after would be selective as to which teams he would speak with. Ultimately, the offensive guru who enters this cycle as arguably the most sought after coaching candidate, conducted interviews with the Bears, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars before refocusing on the Lions’ playoff push that begins in the Divisional Round next weekend.

Ben Johnson Interviewed With 4 Teams, Only 3 Jobs Remain

GettyHead coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots.

The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel, a multiple-time Super Bowl winner with the franchise as a player and the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans, as their new leading man Sunday.

That cuts the field for Johnson to just three potential landing spots. The Raiders own the No. 6 pick in the upcoming NFL draft, which is probably too low to select either Shedeur Sanders of Colorado or Cam Ward of Miami as their QB of the future.

Las Vegas could attempt to trade up or make a deal with a team like the Minnesota Vikings if they put J.J. McCarthy on the trade block this offseason, but the Raiders’ QB situation could feasibly have them running third in Johnson’s list of options.

Then there are the Jaguars, who have a franchise signal caller in Trevor Lawrence already on the books. However, he is under contract on a $275 million deal and is coming off of a year in which he played poorly and battled injury.

Chicago has a boatload of salary cap space in 2025 (nearly $75.2 million, per the most recent projection Sunday) and a former Heisman Trophy winner at QB in Caleb Williams who is on a relatively inexpensive rookie contract for the next three or four seasons. The Bears also own three selections in the first 41 picks of the 2025 draft and added a significant amount of talent last offseason.

Bears Still Have Roughly 12 Candidates in Running for Head Coaching Position

GettyChicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles.

Given Johnson’s interest in becoming Chicago’s head coach last season before the franchise decided to stick with Eberflus and the team’s position relative to his other options, it would make sense that the Bears are at the top of Johnson’s list.

The question is how the franchise feels about Johnson compared to the other dozen or so candidates the team has interviewed/requested to interview. Vrabel is now off the menu and the Dallas Cowboys denied the Bears’ request to interview head coach Mike McCarthy for the open position in Chicago.

Other names high on the radar are Johnson’s colleague in Detroit, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, and Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Chicago is also interested in interviewing Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, who will face off against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Championship on January 20.