When Ben Johnson was hired by the Chicago Bears, the team’s running game was put into the spotlight. Chicago tried to overhaul their ground attack by signing D’Andre Swift to a three-year, $24 million contract last spring. But Swift faltered in his first year with the Bears, running for 959 yards and six touchdowns on 253 carries.
Johnson praised Swift (and even gave him a nickname) last month but it hasn’t stopped rumors that the 26-year-old could be one-and-done in Chicago. A deep running back class and Johnson’s successful ground game with the Detroit Lions may convince the Bears to ditch Swift and it felt like another strike was delivered with an unexpected addition on Monday night.
Travis Homer’s Return Could Impact D’Andre Swift’s Return to Bears
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears are re-signing running back Travis Homer to a one-year, $2 million contract. Homer has played sparingly on offense in his first two seasons in Chicago, toting the ball six times for 23 yards. But the 26-year-old has served a bigger role on special teams, posting Pro Football Focus grades of 63.3 on 253 special teams snaps in 2023 and a 55.6 special teams grade on 166 special teams snaps in 2024.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem to affect Swift. The Bears wouldn’t save much whether he’s cut before ($723,334 cap penalty) or after ($610,000 cap savings) June 1 and it’s unlikely they would be able to find a trade partner coming off the worst season of his career. Johnson also has previous experience with Swift, serving as the Lions’ passing game coordinator in 2021 and the offensive coordinator in Swift’s final two years in Detroit (2022-23), meaning his words could be more than just lip service.
But there’s also a good chance Chicago will be looking for an upgrade. Roschon Johnson is still on the roster despite logging 2.7 yards per carry last season but his overall (69.5) and running (76.0) grades went up from his rookie season according to Pro Football Focus. It’s also possible that Johnson would see more success with a bigger sample size after toting the ball 136 times for 502 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two seasons.
The bigger threat could come from this year’s draft class. The Bears own the 10th overall pick in the draft and they have other needs including offensive tackle and linebacker. But Josh Edwards of CBS Sports and SI’s Alan Goldsher both projected the Bears to select Boise State standout Ashton Jeanty in their latest mock drafts.
Even if the Bears don’t make a splash immediately, they own four picks on the first two days of the draft. This could open the door for the Bears to select Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton or Ohio State running backs TreyVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins as their new lead back. It could also give the chance to double up to create the same duo that Johnson had with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in his final two seasons in Detroit.
If that happens, it wouldn’t make sense for the Bears to keep four or five running backs on next year’s roster. It makes Homer’s return a surprise and could lead to Swift finding a new team in the coming weeks.