The theme of this offseason for the Chicago Bears has been undoing everything that went wrong with Matt Eberflus as their head coach over the last three seasons.
By the time the Bears fired Eberflus on Black Friday, it was clear that Eberflus had lost the locker room. However, an argument could be made that Eberflus never had a sense of the locker room during the 2024 season.
One of the odder choices that Eberflus made prior to the 2024 season was naming eight team captains. Most teams have no more than three captains, one for each unit, but that wasn't the case for the Bears in 2024. Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Cole Kmet, Marcedes Lewis, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Jaylon Johnson, and Kevin Byard all wore the captain patches last season.
It didn't quite add up, especially when you consider Johnson's frustrations boiling over after the Bears' Thanksgiving day loss likely played a factor in the team realizing Eberflus had to be fired. Even with Moore, whose demeanor was subject to criticism last season, the idea of him being one of Eberflus' leaders never added up.
Nevertheless, Ben Johnson won't be making that same mistake. While speaking with reporters this week at the NFL Owners Meetings, Johnson revealed the team will only have 3-5 captains next season.
Spiegs was so happy to learn the Bears will have 3 to 5 captains for the 2025 season.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) April 3, 2025
Having 8 captains previously was way too many in Spiegs' mind. pic.twitter.com/V1P4ETvyQY
It would be a safe bet that Williams will be one of the captains. As for the defense, Johnson could have honor but it wouldn't be a complete surprise if Edwards was the defensive captain. Cairo Santos would be the clear candidate to be the team's special teams captain. Kmet could also get consideration given his longevity with the team.
Regardless of who the captains are, it's clear that Ben Johnson is prioritizing getting the locker room back in order. There were too many divided messages originating from the Bears' locker room last season, and it needs to be cleaned up. This might be my "old man yells at cloud" moment but not everyone needs to have a radio show or podcast.