Bears Trade Pitch Deals $24 Million Starter After Rough Season

Ben Johnson has said he wants to rip the Chicago Bears offense "down to the studs" and rebuild it around quarterback Caleb Williams for the 2025 season.

Could his process include asking the team to trade away one of its highest-paid offensive starters, though - as the Detroit Lions once did during his tenure?

Bleacher Report's Moe Moton recently pitched seven NFL trades that would "shake up" next month's free agency period along with the 2025 NFL draft. Among them, he included one about starting running back D'Andre Swift.

The proposed trade: The Bears would send Swift and the remaining two years of his $24 million contract to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for their 2025 fifth-round pick (No. 144 overall).

Swift's potential trade candidacy has been discussed since Johnson's hiring in January, largely because of their short-lived history with the Lions. Swift saw the fewest carries (98) and played the fewest offensive snaps (393) of his career in 2022 during his lone season with Johnson as his offensive coordinator.

The Lions then traded Swift to the Philadelphia Eagles in a 2023 draft-day trade after they signed David Montgomery and selected Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round, a sequence Moton speculated the Bears could try to imitate.

"Johnson may - again - approve a trade that would send Swift to another team. If so, the Raiders would be a logical fit," Moton wrote. "In 2024, the Raiders fielded the league's worst ground attack. They need a full-scale backfield renovation."

Speculation about Swift's future in Chicago is not entirely derived from Johnson.

Swift struggled to live up to expectations during his first season with the Bears in 2024 after signing a three-year, $24 million deal last March. While he nearly eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards, he registered a career-low 3.8 yards per carry on a career-most 253 carries and rushed for fewer than 40 yards in seven games.

While Swift's contract makes him near-uncuttable, though, the Bears could explore trade partners if Johnson does not believe he will fit in his system.

After all, the Bears still have power back Roschon Johnson under contract for the next two years. They could also take advantage of the loaded 2025 running back class and draft a promising rookie to take Swift's place in the rotation.