The best receiver from Ben Johnson’s old job shook his head and eventually rubbed his eyes in frustration.
“I feel like the Bears have unlimited [bleeping] money. This [stuff] is crazy,” Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said on an episode of the St. Brown Podcast, which was released Tuesday. “Ben is just making moves.”
The Bears’ new head coach has helped GM Ryan Poles find three new offensive starters over the past week: center Drew Dalman and guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, whose additions will be made official after 3 p.m. Wednesday. But they should be the start of Johnson’s creativity, not just merely the end result.
The Bears’ pairing of Johnson and Poles has given the new coach a more well-rounded roster around which to craft his playbook in the coming months. That’s no guarantee of success, but it’s a change inside Halas Hall.
Last year, first-year coordinator Shane Waldron’s offense was terribly top-heavy. The Bears spent the third-most money in the NFL at receiver and also at tight end, the sixth-most money at running back — and the fifth-least at offensive line. The contracts of rookie Caleb Williams and second-year player Tyson Bagent placed them eighth-from-last in quarterback spending.
When Luke Getsy took over as coordinator in 2022, the rebuilding Bears were barely trying. They were in the bottom half of the league at every single offensive position: 11th from the bottom at tight end and also offensive line; seventh from the bottom at quarterback and also receiver; and 17th in running back spending.
Not counting the Dalman deal, which won’t be official until Wednesday, the Bears rank 11th in offensive line spending for 2025. They’re spending the 10th-most on running backs, eighth-most on receiver and 16th-most on tight ends.
That balance allows Johnson room for creativity in how he designs his offense — but also in what the Bears do next. Having no gaping holes in their starting offensive lineup — though left tackle Braxton Jones will probably face a challenger — allows the Bears to choose the best available players in next month’s draft, when they hold the 10th pick and three in the top 41, rather than blindly filling a need.
That means that the Bears could draft a tackle 10th if Johnson and his staff fall in love LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou or Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. Penn State’s Tyler Warren is the best tight end available, and the Raiders proved the wisdom of drafting one early with Brock Bowers last year. If Johnson wants to recreate the Lions’ dominant rushing attack, Boise State star rusher Ashton Jeanty would make sense at No. 10.
The Bears have another six weeks to figure out the draft. Their free agent spending has given them more options — not less — to consider.