The Chicago Bears hired the 19th coach in franchise history on Monday when they inked former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to a contract. They must have had some competition from other teams interested in the 38-year-old, because Chicago had to fork out some serious cash to bring him in. And according to reports, Johnson is already the 7th-highest paid coach in the NFL heading into the 2025 season.
Ben Johnson’s Yearly $13 Million Makes Him 7th Highest Paid NFL Coach
Johnson has had his name thrown around in coaching searches over the past few years. He worked his way up the NFL ranks since coming into the league as a coach in 2012, and has garnered plenty of attention since becoming Detroit’s offensive coordinator in 2022. But he truly made a name for himself during the 2024 season, as he pulled the strings for the offense that finished no. 1 in points scored and no. 2 in yards.
The initial number making the rounds on the NFL grapevine is $13 million per year for Ben Johnson with the Bears. If accurate, it’s a sizable bump over the current salary for first-time head coaches. https://t.co/NvKYufEFAm
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 20, 2025
He wasted little time after the Lions’ heartbreaking loss in the Divisional Round on Saturday evening. Not 48 hours after the defeat, it was announced that Johnson accepted a deal with Chicago. He had interviewed with Patriots, Jaguars, and Raiders previously, but it was the Bears that were able to entice him to take their job.
Money probably played a big part. Ben Johnson is set to earn $13 million per year, according to NFL insider Mike Florio, which already puts him in the upper-echelon in terms of payments made to head coaches around the league.
Johnson Will Earn More Than John Harbaugh, CJ Stroud
The $13 million figure is already more than Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh makes annually, and is just $1 million less than what Kyle Shanahan pulls in from the 49ers. He’ll earn more money than players like CJ Stroud, Derrick Henry, and Brandon Aiyuk, and almost exactly twice the amount that Saquon Barkley will take home in 2025. But that was apparently the price to pay for the guy that many considered to be the premiere available name on the open market this year.
| Andy Reid | Chiefs | $20 million |
| Sean Payton | Broncos | $18 million |
| Mike Tomlin | Steelers | $16 million |
| Jim Harbaugh | Chargers | $16 million |
| Sean McVay | Rams | $15 million |
| Kyle Shanahan | 49ers | $14 million |
| Ben Johnson | Bears | $13 million |
It will be the first head coaching job in Johnson’s NFL career. He began with the Miami Dolphins in 2012 as an offensive assistant, eventually working his way up to wide receivers coach before he left in 2018. He held positions such as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator in his first seasons with the Lions, but has been the leader of the offense since 2022.
In all three seasons that he spent as the offensive coordinator in Detroit, Johnson helped the Lions finish in the top-5 in total offense.
