There was word earlier this month that the Bears would promote Press Taylor to offensive coordinator and the team made the move official on Wednesday.
Taylor joined the Bears last year as their pass game coordinator and will replace Declan Doyle after Doyle moved on to run the offense for the Ravens. Taylor was previously the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars and he has also worked for the Colts and Eagles.
The Bears also confirmed that Eric Studesville will be joining Ben Johnson’s staff as their running backs coach.
In addition to those moves, the Bears announced that they have hired Will Lawing as an offensive analyst and Isaiah Ford as an offensive quality control coach.
Success has consequences.
For a team that vaults from worst to first, it means a tougher schedule the next season. For the fans, it may mean more money to see the team play.
In Chicago, it will.
Via Sean Hammond of the Chicago Tribune, season tickets at Soldier Field will increase by 13.5 percent, on average, in 2026. The changes were communicated to season-ticket holders on Tuesday in a letter from Bears CEO Kevin Warren.
Warren explained that the increases resulted from “detailed analysis and market research.”
Of course, winning isn’t the only factor. Last year, season-ticket prices increased by 10 percent on average, despite the Bears finishing last in the NFC North in 2024.
Here’s the reality, as it relates to the shift from the illegal practice of ticket “scalping” to the burgeoning industry of ticket “reselling.” The teams know what the secondary market is for their tickets. If fans will pay a significant premium over face value to go to the games, it makes sense to increase the face value accordingly.
And Bears fans will show up, no matter what. A day-after-Christmas night game in 2024 toward the end of a lost season nevertheless resulted in a full stadium for a game against the Seahawks.
The Bears are about $5 million over the 2026 salary cap, and they could save about $7 million in cap space by cutting running back D’Andre Swift. That means his place on the roster this year is not safe.
But Swift hopes he’ll be a Bear this season.
“I have no idea, but hopefully I did enough for them to want me back because I know I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Swift told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I hope it plays itself out that way. I love the city, I love the coaching staff and the men that I work with. That’s out of my control, but if I had it my way, I’d be back. I don’t want to play nowhere else.”
The Bears got a good season from rookie backup running back Kyle Monangai in 2025, which could lead them to decide to make Monangai the starter in 2026 and let Swift go. But Swift thinks if anything, he could have an even bigger role next year.
“I can do more,” Swift said. “I wish I would’ve been able to contribute a little more in the passing game. We’ve got so many pass-catchers on the field, so whenever it does come up, I try to make something happen with it, but I do know I could do more.”
Swift may do more this year — in Chicago, or elsewhere.
The Bills have announced their coaching staff under new head coach Joe Brady and it notably includes a former head coach.
Buffalo has hired former Panthers, Broncos, and Bears head coach John Fox as senior assistant coach.
Fox, 71, led the Panthers to an NFC Championship in 2003 and the Broncos to an AFC Championship in 2013. He was last with the Lions in 2023 as senior defensive assistant.
Additionally, Buffalo announced Rob Boras has been promoted to run game coordinator/tight ends coach, Joe Danna has been promoted to secondary coach, D.J. Magnus has been promoted to assistant receivers coach, Jason Rebrovich has been promoted to senior defensive assistant, Kyle Shurmur has been promoted to assistant QBs coach, and Alvin Vaughn has been promoted to defensive assistant.
Several coachers remain from the previous staff under head coach Sean McDermott: assistant offensive line coach Austin Gund, pass game specialist/game management coach Mark Lubick, running backs coach Kelly Skipper, assistant special teams coach Turner West, and offensive assistant/fellowship coach Milli Wilson.
The club has also hired Terrance Jamison as defensive line coach, John Egorugwu as inside linebackers coach, Bobby April III as outside linebackers coach, Jay Valai as cornerbacks coach, Craig Robertson as defensive quality control coach, Pat Meyer as offensive line coach, Bo Hardegree as quarterbacks coach, and Drew Terrell as receivers’ coach.
Buffalo previously announced Pete Carmichael will be the team’s offensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard is defensive coordinator, and Jeff Rodgers is special teams coordinator.
The Seahawks, if the NFL concocts its schedule in the usual way, will open the 2026 season with a home game on Thursday, September 10. And with both the 49ers and Rams reportedly set to play Week 1 in Melbourne, two viable options to get the short straw in Seattle will be out of the mix.
But there are still plenty of good matchups, given a 2026 home schedule for the Seahawks that is chock full of competitive teams.
Beyond the NFC West rivals, the Seahawks will host the Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, and Patriots. Every one of those games has appeal.
The Chargers and Giants would introduce the wrinkle of Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald squaring off against one of his former bosses, Jim and John Harbaugh. The Chiefs have the Patrick Mahomes (and maybe Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift) angle. The Cowboys are always a major draw. The Bears will be one of the “hot” teams for 2026.
And while a Super Bowl rematch may not have much sizzle given what happened on Sunday, it would still be a Super Bowl rematch.
Even a game against the Cardinals could be compelling, since they have a new coach and presumably will have a new quarterback. (Seattle and Arizona played an overtime game in Week 4 of the 2025 season.)
It nevertheless remains possible that Whoever vs. Seahawks won’t be the first game of the season. 49ers-Rams may need to be played before the opening Thursday in order to reduce the significant travel/jet-lag burden.
Still, if the existing approach holds, it’ll be Seattle against someone as they hang their latest banner on the first Thursday night of the season. One of the many decisions the NFL will need to make about the 2026 schedule will entail selecting the opponent for what should be a fairly significant game.
