The Bears are now less than a week away from kicking off their season opener against the division-rival Vikings. The expectations are high in Chicago as Caleb Williams enters his second season and Ben Johnson enters his first as a head coach.
The team did a ton of work to improve this offseason, which is important considering the NFC North is probably the toughest division in football. For example, the Bears remade the interior of their offensive line by bringing in Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, and Joe Thuney. This is crucial considering Caleb Williams was under fire consistently in 2024. On defense, the Bears added Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo to help the run defense and pass rush respectively.
Now that we know what the roster will look like, the Bears revealed on Tuesday who the captains will be in 2025. The team selected quarterback Caleb Williams, offensive lineman Joe Thuney, safety Kevin Byard, defensive lineman Grady Jarrett, and kicker Cairo Santos.
It’s not surprising to see Williams earn the role of captain. Quarterbacks are almost always captains considering they play the most important position in sports. Williams and Byard were both captains in 2024 as well. Santos wasn’t a captain last year, but he’s one of the longest tenured Bears, so his inclusion makes sense. Jarrett and Thuney are both new additons this year, and clearly they’ve already impressed their teammates and coaches.
It’s interesting to see how Johnson is handling the captains differently than previous head coach Matt Eberflus did. Eberflus last offseason began by selecting a whopping 22 players to his “apex leadership group.” The coach then narrowed that list down to eight players, and those eight were named captains.
Those eight were Williams, Byard, Jaylon Johnson, D.J. Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Marcedes Lewis, and Cole Kmet. Notably, all of these player except Lewis are still on the team, but Williams and Byard are the only two to earn captain honors again.
It’s a bit surprising to see star players like Johnson, Moore, and Edmunds not be selected in 2025. None of the Bears’ four highest-paid players (Moore, Montez Sweat, Johnson, Edmunds) will be captains in 2025, which is highly unusual. The Bears recently inked Johnson to massive extension, so he’s probably the most shocking omission from this group.
Clearly, all players came in this offseason with a clean slate under Johnson, and he didn’t care about prior achievements. The Bears have been mired in mediocrity for years, and the new head coach appears to be sending a message with his selections for the leadership group.