Bears news and rumors: Saquon near-miss, Ben Johnson contract details, Ryan Poles extension

Another week, another busy one for the Chicago Bears. Few teams are this active in the time leading up to the Super Bowl unless they're, you know, playing in the Super Bowl, but the Bears have been stealing the headlines ever since landing Ben Johnson over two weeks ago.

Being a knowledgeable Bears fan has been a full-time job lately, what with Johnson filling out his staff and the Bears being mentioned in trade rumors, such as for Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett, who recently requested out of Cleveland.

Even Super Bowl media week has had more involvement for the Bears than you'd think. Former Bears head coach and current Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has, for the third year in a row, been asked a host of Bears questions during his media availability, and when asked what his advice for Ben Johnson would be, he replied, "Win, and beat the Packers."

Nagy isn't the only person vying for a Super Bowl ring that had the Bears on his mind this week, so we'll begin our news and rumors there.

Saquon Barkley makes Bears fans wonder what might have been

The Bears were active last offseason in the free agent market, and one of their most notable signings was running back D'Andre Swift, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles. Swift's first season in Chicago was a mixed bag, and it will be interesting to see what he does now that he's been reunited with Ben Johnson, whom he played for in Detroit before being traded to Philly. Unless of course the Bears replace him with someone like Ashton Jeanty.

Some Bears fans held out hope that general manager Ryan Poles would make a push for Saquon Barkley last offseason to give the team the kind of star running back it hasn't had since Matt Forte. Barkley himself revealed this week that those Bears fans nearly got their wish.

"I was pretty damn close," Barkley said of joining the Bears. Obviously he ended up going to Philadelphia, and though the Bears would have loved to have him, the team's offensive line issues combined with poor coaching would have made it impossible for Barkley to have had his MVP-caliber season in Chicago.

In the end, it worked out for all involved that Barkley chose the Eagles. He ran for over 2,000 yards behind one of the best offensive lines in football, created some of the wildest highlights of the season, and is playing for a Super Bowl after years of losing in New York with the Giants. Had the Bears gotten him, it's unlikely his presence alone would have pushed them into a playoff spot, but two or three extra wins might have kept Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron employed while blocking the Bears from ever getting Ben Johnson. Imagining Saquon hurdling guys backwards while wearing navy and orange is a tantalizing thought, but Bears fan have to be happy with the way things worked out.

The Bears put their money where their mouth is for Ben Johnson

NFL head coach salaries aren't often public knowledge, but the curtain seems to have been pulled back on what the Bears did in order to get Johnson to sign on the dotted line. ESPN's Courtney Cronin wrote an excellent piece on Monday that puts Johnson's salary in the $13 million per year range, a figure far greater than anything the Bears have paid a coach before, and more than double what they paid Matt Eberflus.

Legendary Bears coach Mike Ditka once said that George Halas threw around nickels like they were manhole covers, an implication that Halas was cheap. That belief has persisted about Bears ownership throughout the years, but it's time to finally lay that to rest after team chairman George McCaskey spared no expense in winning Johnson's favor.

Many NFL insiders believed that the Raiders had the inside track to hire Johnson, due in part to the lure of minority owner Tom Brady. Others, such as the Jaguars and Patriots, also interviewed Johnson, and unlike the Raiders, had quarterbacks already under contract that could be part of their pitch in Trevor Lawrence and Drake Maye.

The Bears won out due to the presence of Caleb Williams, Johnson's love for the city of Chicago, and about $65 million other reasons.

Is a Ryan Poles extension next on the Bears' to-do list?

Heading into the offseason, Bears fans couldn't be sure if general manager Ryan Poles was going to keep his job or not. At the press conference announcing the firing of Matt Eberflus, Poles seemed to receive a vote of confidence from team president Kevin Warren, and Warren even said that Poles would have the ultimate say in the next coaching hire, but there was definitely an uneasy vibe to the proceedings that did little to really clarify where Poles stood.

The persistent rumor that Ben Johnson only wanted to go to a spot where he could be on the same timetable as the GM didn't seem to help Poles' chances, but sure enough, he led the many, many interviews the Bears did, including Johnson's, and the new Chicago head coach even had some kind words to say about Poles and the way he was looking forward to working together with him going forward at his introductory press conference.

Cronin also reported in her piece above that Poles, whose contract is believed to run through 2026, is expected to receive a three-year extension that would align his contract with Johnson's.

Bears fans have been mixed on Poles, who has some huge wins, such as hiring Johnson and fleecing the Panthers for DJ Moore and Caleb Williams, and some notable losses, such as never putting together a quality offensive line and standing by Eberflus as long as he did.

From where I'm standing, Poles has done a very good job and deserves an extension on his own merits. He's been a good drafter, and he's responsible for a quarterback and coach that could go down as the best in franchise history when it's all said and done. Throw in the clear benefit of having the coach and GM on the same timetable and it feels like a no-brainer to lock him up.