Former Vikings and Lions wide receiver rejects Ben Johnson with Bears offensive coordinator search officially underway
Troy Walters declines interview request with the Chicago Bears.
The hunt for a new offensive coordinator is officially underway for the Chicago Bears and head coach Ben Johnson after losing Declan Doyle to the Baltimore Ravens late last week in a lateral move that was hard for Doyle to turn down.
On Tuesday, names started getting reported in connection to the Bears vacant offensive coordinator position with Arizona Cardinals pass game specialist Connor Senger being the first named mentioned, and he should be viewed as a strong early candidate.
However, when you’re on the market and exploring other options, you’re going to get hit with some rejections as well. And that happened to Johnson with another candidate he was interested in bringing in for an interview.
Troy Walters declines interview request for the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator position
Along with Senger, the Bears also submitted a request to interview Cincinnati Bengals WR coach Troy Walters, who’s gotten multiple offensive coordinator requests in the past. But, Walters declined the Bears request according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones.
It’s easy to see the logic with Walters’ decision to turn down Johnson and the Bears. Walters has built something nice with the Bengals leading a wide receiver room that produced two Pro Bowl selections this year in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who continue to be the league’s top WR duo.
Walters has been in Cincinnati since 2020 and done incredible work with that position, beyond the team’s two standout pass catchers. Before his coaching career took off, Walters had experience playing in the NFC North after being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2000 and playing one season with the Detroit Lions in 2007.
The 49-year-old has established himself as one of the most successful position coaches in the league and this won’t be the first or last request he gets for a higher position. But, sometimes it’s hard to leave a good thing while you have it.
Now Johnson will go back to the drawing board and submit more outside requests. The Bears are also uniquely positioned with a few in-house candidates to potentially consider for the role as well.
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