NFL Insider confirms Bears passed on perfect Matt Eberflus replacement last offseason

I know we all love Matt Eberflus, but let's pretend for a second that we don't. Let's pretend that Matt Eberflus is wearing out his welcome as the Bears' head coach, in part because of a consistent pattern of poor game management and a lack of self-awareness. Let's pretend that he was exposed in a major way during a heartbreaking Bears loss recently, and that in this hypothetical scenario, we're spending all week talking about who the Bears could hire next year, or even worse, who they could have hired last year.

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One of those names would obviously be Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. After turning Jared Goff and the Detroit offense into one of the best units in all of football, Johnson's been one of the hottest head coaching candidates of the last few cycles. He probably could have landed a job last year – and was apparently close with the Commanders, at one point – but chose to return to Detroit. He'd be exactly the type of young, offensive-minded coach that would pair well with Caleb Williams, and he'd bring a level of schematic complexity to the offense that Bears fans aren't used to seeing. But that'd be such a flashy, big-name hire. Surely that's a little too brave for the McCaskey family? And it's not like they even had the opportunity, right?

Wrong! You'll love this next part. According to NFL Insider Albert Breer, not only was Johnson seriously considering jobs last offseason, but he heard that Johnson wanted the Bears job. While speaking to local Chicago sports radio on Tuesday morning, Breer gave some painfull details on what could have been.

The Bears may have dropped the ball on hiring Lions OC Ben Johnson last year

"He was definitely looking at the Chicago job last year," Breer said. "There were some people that thought that was the one he wanted. And obviously it didn't come open."

Ha ha ha ha ha. Wonderful. Terrific. Love to hear it.

At the risk of being a prisoner of the moment, I think it's curtains on Eberflus' time in Chicago. The Bears don't fire coaches in the middle of the season – and I don't expect them to start now – but the writing is on the wall now. First there was a hugely embarrassing display of coaching incompetence against the Commanders, followed by multiple team captains going public with shade the next day, and now there's this. And Johnson's probably going to available next year! Enjoy your last two months in Chicago, Matt.