It was a relatively quiet day for the head coach Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears to start the week. The NFC North was otherwise buzzing, though. All three of the Bears’ divisional opponents garnered headlines on Monday, each for reasons they surely would have rather avoided.
Their most-hated rivals, the Green Bay Packers, received a damning reality check. The Detroit Lions shook up their roster, while the Minnesota Vikings got a harsh reminder.
In that context, and as the saying goes, no news was good news for the Bears.
NFC North Rivals Have Bad Day in Bears News Roundup
Bears Loom Large as Packers Await Big News
Johnson and the Bears defeated the Packers in two of three matchups last season. They split their meetings in the regular season before ousting their neighbors up North from the postseason in the Wild Card Round.
That reality looms large for the Packers.
The Athletic’s Mike Jones noted as much, listing the Packers among the “losers” of the 2026 offseason, largely due to their lack of moves to replace outgoing talent.
“For a team coming off back-to-back wild-card-round exits and that hasn’t reached the conference championship game since the 2020 season, the Packers had a rather blah offseason. They lost top wide receiver Romeo Doubs, left tackle Rasheed Walker and linebacker Quay Walker, and they also saw cornerback Nate Hobbs and versatile offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins depart. On top of that, they’re dealing with the uncertainty swirling around Josh Jacobs’ domestic violence charges,” Jones wrote on June 29.
“The Bears won the NFC North last season, and the Vikings and Lions are also both threats, so the Packers will need several young players to assume larger roles if they hope to reach the playoffs this fall.”
The Bears are but one factor in the Packers’ ominous outlook.
Still, theirs varies greatly from the Bears, who are widely viewed as an ascending group heading into the 2026 season.
Lions Cut Terrion Arnold Amid Felony Charges
The Lions, Johnson’s former team, were the only NFC North team to sweep the Bears during the 2025 regular season. Their outlook took a hit on Monday, too, following their latest roster decision.
The Lions announced in a post on X on June 29 that they had cut cornerback Terrion Arnold.
Arnold was the 24th overall pick of the 2024 draft. He is facing multiple charges, including felony counts of armed robbery and kidnapping.
The matter stems from a reported theft of Arnold and some friends, who were staying at an Airbnb. After contacting police about the matter, Arnold is alleged to have orchestrated a plan that saw multiple individuals taken into police custody.
A judge ruled Arnold would face charges of armed robbery and kidnapping on Monday.
The judge also ruled against the requested no-bail status. That would have kept Arnold in jail until his next court date. Instead, he received a $1 million bond.
That judge also ruled that Arnold would not need to wear an ankle monitor, as was requested by the prosecution. That cleared his path to participate in training camp. However, the Lions’ decision makes that more unlikely than it was before the judge’s ruling.
Insider: Vikings QB ‘Sucks’
The Vikings got the first win of the 2025 season against Johnson and the Bears. It was led by an improbable fourth-quarter effort from J.J. McCarthy, the now-fourth-year QB whom the Vikings traded up one spot to select 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
McCarthy and, by extension, the Vikings’ season derailed from there.
Injuries and inconsistency undercut the faith the organization showed in McCarthy, who was teammates with and won a national championship with Bears tight end Colston Loveland in 2023.
In dashcam footage that was recently shared by Center Square’s Adam Herbets, disgraced NFL reporter Dianna Russini can be heard saying the Vikings’ “quarterback sucks” during an exchange with a police officer who was a fan of the team during a traffic stop on January 10.
McCarthy was one of three quarterbacks to start a game for the Vikings in 2025.
He also started the most games and had just come off a 182-yard performance with 0 touchdowns or interceptions against the Packers in the season finale six days prior.
This offseason, the Vikings signed former Arizona Cardinals starter and 2019 No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray. He is in what many feel is a pseudo-competition with McCarthy. They already fired their general manager earlier this offseason and only recently hired a new one.
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