NFC Notes: Ben Johnson, Bears, Lions Staff Changes, Packers Salary Cap

Bears

The Bears hired Lions OC Ben Johnson, one of the hottest names on the market, to be their HC to pair with QB Caleb Williams. Johnson’s agent Rick Smith credited Chicago’s upper management for self-evaluation to improve while noting Johnson’s continued desire to land with the Bears.

“And what I found in this process is there’s a tremendous amount of self-awareness going on at Halas Hall,” Smith said, via BearGogglesOn.com. “They understand the mistakes they’ve made.”

“His [Johnson’s] heart was with the Bears and he never wavered off that.”

Lions

Lions GM Brad Holmes believes QB Jared Goff is still in his prime and won’t experience a drop-off in play despite the turnover to HC Dan Campbell‘s staff.

“I think the guy’s in his prime. He’s gotten better and better every year. And when I say prime, I think, like, just entering it,” Holmes said, via ESPN. “It’s because he keeps ascending. I think, like every single year we’ve been here, the next year, it’s been ‘Man, he’s playing at a high level.’ And the levels keep improving. Again, I just have a lot of faith in [head coach] Dan [Campbell], and I know that he’ll make sure that Jared’s going to be in a good position.”

Holmes said he wasn’t shocked to lose both OC Ben Johnson and DC Aaron Glenn, adding that the team was well-prepared and will have options to replace both.

“Obviously we were prepared to lose those guys. Those guys were great coaches, and, I mean, just call it what it is, we were lucky to have both of them this year,” Holmes said. “But I know Dan has been preparing for it, and I have the full faith and trust in Dan to make sure we’re going to have the right people in place in those spots, and he’s had to encounter that before. Not at the coordinator level, but other position coaches, and it’s always worked out.”

Campbell added that he’s going to lean on Goff’s input as to who the team will hire as their next offensive coordinator.

“To me that’s important. That’s what Ben did a great job of, is those guys working together, and the system was kind of built from the ground up, and it was to help him and for him to be a part of,” Campbell said. “And so, yeah, that’s huge, he’ll have a lot of input. What he says, says a lot to me, I should say. Now, is it going to be the ultimate decision? No, it’s not, but what he says is going to mean a lot to me.”

Holmes added that he still believes the team’s Super Bowl window is wide open and they’re going to stay the course in terms of team building and roster construction.

“I just think that we just stay the course and keep building like we’ve been. I do think that we’re very close,” Holmes said. “Obviously, I thought we were very close this year, but nothing’s going to kind of alter what our approach has been in terms of trying to continue to improve and keep building. Obviously, I do think we’re very close, and I felt really good about this season but fell short, but we’re going to stay committed and stay committed to the process.”

Packers

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst addressed the team’s salary cap situation heading into the offseason, which sits at roughly $38 million of usable cap space at this point.

“I feel really good about our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team,” Gutekunst said, via PackersWire.com. “The opportunities out there are unknown right now, we’ll see how that goes, but we’re in a better situation than we have been over the past 2-3 years.”

“I feel like I approach every offseason like I have to attack it aggressively,” Gutekunst added. “We’ll see what transpires through the free agency class, who gets re-signs, who doesn’t, salary cap causalities. If it’s right for us, we’re going to attack it.”