The Chicago Bears were one of the most active teams this offseason, and with these widely praised moves have come expectations. Ben Johnson is the new head coach, and the former Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator is looking to help quarterback Caleb Williams improve significantly in his second season.
Despite the positive moves, particularly on offense, there is still one position that could use some added depth. When he was with the Lions, Johnson had his most success with multiple threats in the backfield. Therefore, the Bears’ decision not to select a running back until the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft has fans clamoring for one more move this free agency.
According to Mike Luciano, an NFL staff writer for FanSided, Nick Chubb would be an ideal fit this offseason. The four-time Pro Bowl selection has been linked to the Bears recently and is one of the more successful running backs of this generation. Chubb, who is 29 and most recently played for the Cleveland Browns, has been injury-prone in the past, but Luciano makes the case for why taking a flier on the veteran would be a wise move by the Bears.
“Chicago seems like a much more natural fit for Chubb’s services, which has only emboldened a fanbase desperate for a better ground game,” Luciano states. “The Bears might be scrapping the bottom of the free agent barrel if they are going to bring on an aging running back off a career-worst year, but Chubb may also have the highest ceiling of any player out there at the moment.
Chubb, at this point in his career, is not going to be a transformative player. The best the Bears can hope for is that his ability to grind out tough yards pairs nicely with Swift and takes some of the pressure off Caleb Williams in a pressure-packed second season.”
Even in a vaunted NFC North, the Bears are expected to contend for a playoff spot. The franchise is trying to break its four-year postseason drought and will have to do it the hard way with one of the most challenging schedules in the NFL.
Overall, the current backfield of DeAndre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Kyle Monangan, and Travis Homer is not necessarily mediocre, but the Bears need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to live up to the hype they’ve been building over the past few months. If an upgrade to this unit is possible, general manager Ryan Poles needs to pursue it.
