Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson met with reporters Monday morning at the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix. It was the first time Johnson spoke with reporters since the team made some major changes over the past month.

The team decided to move on from some team leaders such as wide receiver DJ Moore, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Kevin Byard, and lost center Drew Dalman to a sudden retirement. They also added some new players such as center Garrett Bradury and safety Coby Bryant.

Johnson and the Bears now will turn their full attention to the draft as well as players returning to Halas Hall later this month. Here are four of the most interesting things Johnson said Monday.

On Drew Dalman’s retirement

The Bears were prepared as best as they could be for Dalman’s retirement.

Johnson said that Dalman approached him and general manger Ryan Poles around the middle of February to let them know that he was leaning toward retirement. After a couple weeks, the news broke at the beginning of March that Dalman decided to leave the sport at age 27.

Johnson said it felt that Dalman had given retirement a lot of thought at the time and there wasn’t going to be a way to change his mind. Although the Bears felt Dalman was a big reason for their success last season and wanted him back, Johnson respected Dalman’s choice to step away.

“There’s naturally that selfish desire — no, no, no, I want to change his mind," Johnson said. “But that’s not why we do what we do, also. We have to do what’s right for the team and the organization, but it’s also really important that his concerns are taken care of. You could tell pretty quickly that he’s a smart guy. This was not a rash decision.”

The Bears quickly reacted and started looking toward the future at center. After looking at what was available both in free agency and the trade market, the Bears decided to trade a 2027 fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury.

Johnson felt that Bradbury would “fit us like a glove.” Bradbury has a good relationship with left guard Joe Thuney after they played at North Carolina State together. It felt as good of a solution the Bears could find given the sudden need.

“He’s going to fit what we like to do in the run game with our wide zone, running off the football,” Johnson said. “And when we watched him, we felt really good about what he did in pass pro as well. I think he’s going to be really what the doctor ordered for us in terms of – it’s hard to replace a guy like Drew. He had a Pro Bowl season and played really, really well, and yet we feel like Garrett is going to fit us really well also.”

On other key departures

Chicago lost other key leaders that had made an impact with the franchise over the past few years. None felt as big as trading Moore and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for a 2026 second-round pick.

Moore became a key leader after the team acquired him from the Carolina Panthers in a 2023 trade that involved that year’s No. 1 overall pick. He performed well on the field and was the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award last season.

That’s why trading away Moore felt so difficult for Johnson. Moore had done everything the team had asked of him. But given the team’s salary cap issues, the young talent in the wide receiver room and Moore’s contract, the Bears had to make a tough decision.

“I love DJ,” Johnson said. “Shoot, I got a little emotional when the trade happened and he came in and he made his rounds saying goodbye to the coaches and Ryan and his crew. It hurts because I viewed him as one of the leaders. Yet the business is the business. We had to make some decisions in terms of salary cap and things of that nature. I think the best thing for him is, he’s going to a great situation.”

The departures of Moore, Byard, Edmunds and others left holes in leadership inside the Bears locker room. But Johnson was confident the Bears could fill those voids, whether with the players they already brought in or those who are coming back.

“I think guys are going to step up,” Johnson said. “We’ve got some young players, Caleb being one of them, that have leadership qualities. It opens an opportunity for them to step to the forefront a little bit more. I also feel really good about some of these guys that we brought in.”

On the left tackle competition

Despite their efforts last offseason, the Bears will enter another offseason program with a competition for the starting left tackle job.

Chicago thought it had found a starter in Ozzy Trapilo when the rookie stepped up toward the end of the season and in the playoffs and played well. But Trapilo suffered an injury to his patellar tendon in the NFC Wild Card game in January, leaving an open spot for an indefinite amount of time.

“Obviously you’d love to have your long-term starter for the next 10 years locked up,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty right now though. We don’t know. Ozzy’s coming off a pretty serious injury. Not sure if we’ll have him next year or at what point he’ll come up. And so we’re going to have an opportunity right now for a lot of competition.”

Johnson felt good about the moves the Bears did make for that competition. The Bears brought back both Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet, who both started games at left tackle. Johnson was excited to see what Jones could look like at his full potential after dealing with an injury recovery and then another injury last season. Chicago also brought in Jedrick Wills Jr., a former top-10 pick, on a one-year deal.

Despite those moves, Johnson felt the Bears put themselves in a good spot to pounce on a left tackle in the draft if the need arises.

“I think we’ve put ourselves in a really good situation to where much like last year we can go into this draft and stay true to our board and not force any pick,” Johnson said. “If there’s a tackle or a defensive tackle or a [defensive] end, I think we can go any direction we need to and stay true to that and feel pretty good about it.”

On Caleb Williams’, offense’s growth

Johnson did a little exercise a couple weeks ago since the team added a couple new coaches to the offensive coaching staff. He showed tape from the team’s Family Fest practice, which took place a week before Chicago’s first preseason game.

“Both those coaches ended up turning around, like ‘How did you guys wind up winning any games last year?’ ” Johnson recalled. “Like, they couldn’t believe it. Because we had already made it through about half the self-scout, and they saw what the actual plays in-season looked like and to see where we started was like wow. It’s an eye-opener.”

He brought up the example to illustrate how much further along quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense will be once they reconvene this spring and later on in the summer for training camp.

“I love DJ [Moore]. Shoot, I got a little emotional when the trade happened and he came in and he made his rounds saying goodbye to the coaches and Ryan and his crew. It hurts because I viewed him as one of the leaders. Yet the business is the business. We had to make some decisions in terms of salary cap and things of that nature. I think the best thing for him is, he’s going to a great situation.”

—  Ben Johnson, Bears head coach

Johnson felt Williams made big strides throughout the season, which led to seven comeback wins in dramatic fashion. Not only did the offense look more cohesive as the season progressed, Williams also learned how to take a game plan and put it into practice on the field.

With less time wasted on learning the fundamentals, Johnson felt confident Williams and the offense will get “cooking” quicker.

“The point is we’ve got to start there,” Johnson said. “We have to start there here in the springtime, and I think if we do we’ll see another big step for the entire unit.”