(670 The Score) The Bears rose to the occasion financially to secure the new head coach they wanted in Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
The belief around the NFL is the Bears will pay Johnson around $13 million annually in the agreement the sides reached for him to come to Chicago, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
“Thirteen million a year is about $5 million over entry level for a new head coach,” Florio said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Tuesday morning. “When you’re looking for alignment with the front office and there isn’t a change in GM, which some thought would be necessary, there isn’t any special power given to Ben Johnson over and above being the head coach, nothing says alignment like making a massive financial commitment. It tells you what you need to know. It tells you where you fit in the pecking order. Because there’s no way (Ryan) Poles is making $13 million a year – because that’s not general manager money.”
Florio felt the Bears firing Matt Eberflus on Nov. 29 was the first sign that the organization is doing business differently, as it marked the first time in franchise history that the team fired a head coach during the middle of a season. The McCaskey family then ponying up to meet Johnson’s price in recent days was yet another sign of the changing times in Florio's mind.
“Ownership is changing,” Florio said. “This is the latest sign that ownership is changing – they’re doing what they need to do.”