Bears Hire Ben Johnson, Futures Odds Surge

The Chicago Bears have long been one of the most incompetent and dysfunctional franchises in the NFL, right up there with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. They have made so many poor decisions over the last decade when it comes to general manager and head coach, from Marc Trestman to Matt Eberflus, going through them faster than a kid at a candy store. However, every day is a new day, and it isn’t impossible that the Bears may have finally gotten it right with the hiring of former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

Immediately after the announcement from several reputable reporters such as Adam Schefter of ESPN, the bookmakers in Las Vegas were quick to react at their sportsbooks. Within minutes, the Bears odds to win Super Bowl LX skyrocketed from 60/1 to 45/1 depending on the specific book, obviously giving a ton of respect to the Johnson hire by Chicago. It takes something pretty monumental to shift the price on a wager by 1500, sort of like when Tom Brady announced his decision to sign with the Buccaneers, which shifted their odds by nearly 4000.

At 45/1, the Bears are now sitting close behind the Bucs and their division rival Minnesota Vikings to win the Super Bowl, and are +1500 behind the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos. Considering all of those teams made the playoffs this season, you can see how much this hire has elevated a team that won just five games in 2024. Interestingly, the Lions are still a favorite for Super Bowl LX, sitting tied with the Philadelphia Eagles at +850 even with Johnson departing.

So, why all the hype? Well, Johnson led Detroit to the No. 1 scoring offense in 2024, and over the last two seasons that Johnson has been the play-caller, they have scored more points than any team in the NFL. Chicago is throwing their chips down in hoping he can replicate that kind of success as their new head coach, similar to what they did with former head coach Matt Nagy in 2018, who turned out not ready for that kind of responsibility coming over from Kansas City.

The Bears needed an injection of hope, however, after a painful 2024 campaign that saw the team fire head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron before the season was over. That was also a first for the Bears, who had never fired a head coach mid-season. So, with any luck for Bears fans, it means times are changing and the status quo isn’t acceptable anymore. Pairing Johnson with QB Caleb Williams is ambitious, dreaming big on what the two could accomplish together for years to come.

Williams showed promise as a rookie, throwing for 3,541 yards and 20 touchdowns, but he was sacked an insane 68 times. General manager Ryan Poles needs to fix that offensive line this offseason, and Johnson is going to have to work with Williams on holding onto the ball too long. These are both very fixable issues, if they play their cards right, but the Bears never seem to be able to do that.

Johnson won’t have the NFL’s best offensive line anymore for his offense, nor will he have an established veteran QB like Jared Goff to execute the offense. However, for a team with five wins, Chicago has a remarkable amount of talent at his disposal. WR DJ Moore has been a consistent playmaker every season, and WR Rome Odunze showed lots of promise in his rookie season as well. It remains to be seen if the Bears finally made a good decision at head coach, but at least according to Vegas, it certainly improved their chances of competing by a significant margin.

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