Ben Johnson was brought in as the Chicago Bears’ new head coach largely because the franchise believed in his ability to maximize the potential of young quarterback Caleb Williams, the same way he did with Jared Goff as the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.
As a part of Johnson’s process, he’s been challenging Williams and holding him to a new standard.
“HC Johnson on Caleb Williams not hitting 70% completion rate in practice: ‘We’ve been underneath that bar. We’re learning, we’re growing. Early on, we were probably 55%. It’s gotten better as camp has gone on, but we haven’t hit that threshold as often as we would like,'” Underdog NFL previously reported.
With Williams failing to hit his marks, it appears that Johnson wants some more insurance at the position moving forward, and have reversed course with the contract of one of their other rostered quarterbacks, keeping him in Chicago for longer than the franchise initially planned.
“The #Bears are signing QB Tyson Bagent to a two-year, $10M contract extension with a max value of $16M with incentives, his reps at Milk and Honey Sports and Key Player Management tell The Insiders,” reported NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Fans reacted to the news on social media
“He’s a strong back up and they now have the ability to trade him until 2027. This was a super smart deal,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Great story! Good for him man, he’s earned it!” someone else added.
“Even though I’m a Viking fan, I’m happy for him. He played well when given the chance and is a great backup QB, another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see if Johnson turns to Bagent in place of Williams this year.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.