Chicago Bears fans wanted Ben Johnson. And now they have him.

A league source confirmed to Marquee Sports Network on Monday that the Bears will hire the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator as their next head coach.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to break the news, citing sources, and Johnson’s agency, Priority Sports, posted a social media message seemingly confirming it.

As of 3 p.m. CT Monday, the sides were finalizing the deal, though it’s expected to be done soon. NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported, via sources, that Johnson soon will fly to Chicago and “contract parameters are in place.”

The pact came before Johnson took a single in-person visit, which he was eligible to do starting Monday, two days after the Lions’ upset divisional-round playoff loss to the Washington Commanders. He conducted initial interviews with the Bears, Jaguars, Patriots and Raiders – New England subsequently hired Mike Vrabel – with Las Vegas seemingly the front-runner because of its general manager opening and Johnson’s reported preference to have strong alignment with the GM.

Ryan Poles already is in place as the Bears’ GM and led the head coach search, which featured a committee that also included president/CEO Kevin Warren and chairman George McCaskey. It’s believed Poles doesn’t have much time left on his current contract, though that might change. Time will tell on that.

The Bears were able to quickly secure Johnson’s services after conducting 16 initial interviews. They were eligible to hire Johnson after satisfying the NFL’s Rooney Rule on Sunday, when they interviewed their second external minority candidate in-person. They brought in Ron Rivera last week and Eddie George on Sunday.

Johnson was the most attractive coach on the market, having led the Lions’ offense to great heights over his three seasons as offensive coordinator. He’s known as a creative offensive mind and a tireless worker, also armed with a charismatic personality that could help him as a head coach. He learned about the head coach job from one of the best, with Lions boss Dan Campbell an excellent culture-builder and leader of a franchise.

This will be 38-year-old Johnson’s first job as head coach, though there’s less consternation about him than others without experience in that realm, with game and clock management now on his plate.

Johnson reportedly is moving quickly on building his Bears staff, including the most important position to fill for an offensive head coach. Johnson already is evaluating defensive coordinators, with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reporting he’s expected to select former Raiders and New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as his defensive play-caller. Schefter later reported that the Bears “are heavily pursuing” former Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi to be their special teams coach.

This expected hire should be viewed as great news for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, last year’s No. 1 overall NFL draft pick. He had an eventful rookie season, which included the Bears firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus during the season.

The Bears didn’t execute their plan for his first professional season well, but bringing in Johnson is a huge step toward maximizing his vast potential. The timing and structure of Johnson’s offense should provide guardrails for Williams and get him moving in a positive direction. Williams and Johnson have said nice things about each other in the recent past, and Williams surely was an attraction for Johnson to select the Bears out of multiple options.

Johnson’s offensive credentials are top notch. The Lions were a top-10 scoring offense in all three seasons when he was the play-caller, and they’ve also ranked among the NFL’s top 10 in total offense over the last two. While the Bears must fix their offensive line, they have the skill players required to make a massive jump in offensive production, which has been lacking in recent seasons.