Chicago Bears Rumors: Bears top favorites for Leonard Fournette

After being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Leonard Fournette could be heading to the Chicago Bears.

Monday morning, the Jacksonville Jaguars made a huge move by releasing former 2017 fourth overall pick Leonard Fournette. Interestingly enough, the Chicago Bears have a pressing need at running back.

Just days ago, second year starting running back David Montgomery went down to a groin injury. Montgomery was taking a handoff from Mitchell Trubisky when he slipped and fell down without any contact.

The latest reports on Montgomery say he could miss 2-4 weeks, which would put the soonest return right at Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. If the Bears wanted to be smart about it, though, they would wait the full allotted time for Montgomery to be 100 percent healthy and get some practice reps under his belt.

Right now, they would look at starting either Tarik Cohen or Cordarrelle Patterson in place of Montgomery. Neither are a prototypical running back, and the Bears would be taking a risk attempting to fill in the gap with those two.

While news and rumors continue to fly regarding Fournette, the most recent odds from Bovada are intriguing to say the least.

Remember, a couple of years ago the Bears had some of the highest odds from the same exact source to land Khalil Mack. Some called it crazy. Others didn’t think the Bears would spend the capital to get Mack. But, in the end, Mack became a Bear.

The Jaguars have attempted to trade Fournette dating back to NFL Draft weekend this year, but failed to even fetch a seventh round pick. Many reports cited attitude or character problems for the reasoning behind his issues in Jacksonville.

With that said, the Bears definitely need to be cautious if they decide to go after Fournette. There will need to be expectations laid out from the beginning, and Fournette’s attitude must improve.

Matt Nagy has a solid culture built within the locker room and they cannot afford to keep a guy who is a poison. That said, if Fournette and the Jags truly weren’t a good fit together any longer, maybe he just needed a fresh start.

Could that fresh start be in Chicago? It would certainly be quite the signing for the Bears, who need every boost on offense they can get right now.

With a quarterback competition going on and neither guy truly impressing, there is little reason for optimism when it comes to the offense. Fournette would give them a boost, even though he isn’t lining up under center.