(670 The Score) Agent Rick Smith of Priority Sports has conducted business with the Bears for several decades, so he’s quite familiar with how the franchise has operated historically.
These days, Smith sees the Bears acting with a different purpose and an enhanced understand of how the modern NFL works. It’s part of why he felt so comfortable with client Ben Johnson becoming the new head coach in Chicago.
“The Bears, prior to (president/CEO) Kevin Warren, were really a mom-and-pop shop,” Smith said on the Bernstein & Harris Show on Tuesday afternoon. “The same people had been there for 100 years. They got comfortable in the way they did business, and it worked for them, but it was difficult for them to keep up with how things around the league were working.
“Kevin was able to kind of explain to them and show them how a building is structured, how a front office is structured, what it takes to attract top talent, both financially but more importantly otherwise.
“’If we want the best, we better act like the best,’ and present a case that shows it’s more than words – that there’s actually going to be action.
“This was the best process I’ve seen in a heck of a long time from any team in the National Football League.”
Johnson reached an agreement with the Bears on Jan. 20, then signed his contract on Jan. 21. The sides reached a deal without ever having an in-person interview. Johnson and the Bears did have a three-hour virtual interview after the organization had done extensive research on him.
While Johnson’s salary hasn’t been verified, the belief around the league is he’s making about $13 million annually, a figure that would set the new standard for first-time NFL head coaches like himself.
The Bears sold Johnson and Smith on their plan while offering assurances that their house was in order. As part of that, Smith indicated that chairman George McCaskey and Warren won’t meddle in any football operations business, and Smith also suggested that Johnson will have a strong voice in roster decisions.
“I was really pleasantly surprised,” Smith said of the Bears’ changing ways and new approach.