THE BEARS ARE WORTH $6.4 BILLION, SO YES, THEY SHOULD SPLURGE FOR BEN JOHNSON
In a town dragged down by the Reinsdorfs and Ricketts, the McCaskeys have cut loose and will spend $13 million a year on a man who never has been a pro or college head coach — more than John Harbaugh
Credit me for describing the McCaskeys as “Misers of the Midway,” which could have wrangled me into a lawsuit. Gradually, as the valuation of the Chicago Bears rose to 15th among global sports teams, Virginia McCaskey realized at age 102 that she can’t live by Mike Ditka’s cheapo expressions. “He tosses nickels around like manhole covers,” he said of her father, George Halas.
Today, congratulate the family for looking at its grand portfolio — $6.4 billion — and treating Ben Johnson like an Upper Middle Class purchase. Chairman George McCaskey is spending $13 million a season on the new leader, who never has been the head coach of a team on the NFL or college level. Johnson arrived Tuesday at Halas Hall with his wife, Jessica, and three kids. He is 38 with blond hair. He wore white tennis shoes and smiled as the place applauded, with general manager Ryan Poles watching.
Johnson’s remarks, on videotape, were better than anything he might say at his first news conference. “Everyone get back to work,” he joked. “Listen, thank you so much. My family and I, we are beyond excited. This is exactly where we wanted to be. This is going to be a challenge, I’m well aware of that. I know what this division’s about. And this is exactly where we wanted to be. We’re going to go after this thing, and it’s going to take all of us in this locker room. There’s nothing more important than that locker room. And us serving that locker room and those players. They need to understand that and need to feel that from us every single day.
“If we do that? The wins are gonna come. The playoffs are gonna come. All right?”
That was impressive. “I am excited to partner with Ryan and the entire organization as we work to create a championship-caliber program,” Johnson said in a statement. “We are ready to get to work.”
The financial sky-hike is new territory in a town of weak owners. This move elevates the McCaskeys above Jerry Reinsdorf, who is so shoddy that he wants the public to pay for a stadium after losing 121 baseball games. And his son, Michael, who has swirled the Bulls into no-man’s land and soon will trade Zach LaVine, one of the NBA’s better players this season. And don’t forget Tom Ricketts, who said last weekend at the Cubs Convention that he can’t compete with the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees. Why own the damned team, then? Why not sell to a hedge-funder?
“That’s really hard to compete with,” said the man who restored Wrigley Field and maintains it as a must-see from April to September. “I understand when fans say, ‘How come you don't spend like that?’ Because they think somehow we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have — and we just keep it. Which isn't true at all. What happens is we try to break even every year, and that's about it.”
That’s about it in Chicago, the worst sports town in America.
Yet good old George with the same glasses and mustache — who is very tired of being trashed by media and fans — decided to pay up for Johnson when Tom Brady was chasing him down in Las Vegas with Mark Davis’ millions. Thirteen million bucks! That’s more than Saquon Barkley, who is undervalued as a megastar running back. If George was eating at McDonald’s in Lake Forest, is he graduating to Walker Brothers in Highland Park?
Let’s not go overboard: Remember, Mark Walter runs Guggenheim Partners at 227 West Monroe Street and has rockblasted the Dodgers into an all-time monetary beast. By spending for Johnson, McCaskey still is only seventh among owners and head coaches in the league. Andy Reid makes $100 million for five seasons in Kansas City, where the Chiefs are trying to win a fourth Super Bowl in six years. Sean Payton makes $18 million annually in Denver. Mike Tomlin makes $16 million annually in Pittsburgh. Jim Harbaugh makes $16 million annually in Los Angeles, where Sean McVay makes $15 million annually. In San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan makes $14 million annually.
But Johnson will make $1 million a year more than John Harbaugh, who can’t reach a Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson. He also will make more than Dan Campbell, the head coach he left behind in Detroit, who makes $11 million annually. This is insane progress for the McCaskeys when they paid $4.5 million a year for former coach Matt Eberflus.
Are the Bears actually growling for a change in the logo? No more meekness?
That said, Johnson also must learn the racket as the lead man. He must make serious hay with Caleb Williams, who might have growing pains in his second year. They remain in the NFC North, which took postseason hits but still has real teams in Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay. A 5-12 record would look marvelous improving to 9-8. Yet that’s also a fanboy look. I am not a fanboy.
A new coach must prove he can coach before we realistically assess him. Let’s not call Johnson a great hire when he never has staged a post-game press conference. In my mind, wouldn’t Kliff Kingsbury have been in the same category — if not better? He has caught fire as the playcalling impetus behind Jayden Daniels, who might become the first rookie quarterback to start in a Super Bowl. He is part of the breathtaking culture of the Washington Commanders, who advanced Saturday night as Johnson made poor calls on trick plays. Kingsbury has been an NFL head coach for four seasons in Arizona.
Don’t be shocked if Brady hires him. For now, the Bears are thrilled. “A proven leader with a winning pedigree and a mind toward innovation,” Poles said. Is Johnson worth $13 million a year? When the team valuation is $6.4 billion, uh, yeah.
Misers of the Midway? No one cared and certainly not Chicago radio host Laurence Holmes, who was angry when I referred to former manager Ozzie Guillen as “The Blizzard of Oz.” He went on Bill O’Reilly’s TV show one night and was scolded by the host for his fanboy stance.
The Middlers of the Midway. How’s that?
###
Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.