The Chicago Bears no longer have a need to prove that D'Andre Swift fits into Ben Johnson's offense. That's something that was already shown last season when Swift posted the best numbers of his career. The innovation of different coaches and play callers can have an impact like that on a runner, and clearly things are working. While the Bears leadership keeps publicly praising Swift for his abilities and how he's performed during his time in Chicago, it is a contract year for the 27 year old running back.
Rumors of a Swift contract extension have been afloat all offseason, and the public has had plenty of time to mull over the details. If the Bears are looking to sign Swift to an extension prior to the start of the regular season, they're quickly running out of time. It's not often that the Bears sign extensions during the season.
To make matters even more cloudy, Poles' comments on the situation could be taken either way.
Ryan Poles’ praise has not resolved D’Andre Swift’s future
"I think he's done a great job. I love his approach this offseason. He looks amazing, and it's his second year in the system, too. So I like where he's at right now. This is where the job gets tough, is really trying to figure out how you want to allocate everything, not only for now, but into the future. So we'll have those conversations and see where we want to go with it. But I love Swifty, and I love the way he's working. "Ryan Poles
Poles described this part of the job as tough. That's particularly telling. Obviously it's difficult for any general manager making decisions about hundreds of millions of dollars. But if the Bears were committed to making an extension happen, and the price was right, wouldn't it have happened by now?
At 27 years old, Swift is approaching the point at which running backs get their final meaningful contract. There's very good reason to believe he still has good yards in him and that he'll perform at a high level. But when we're talking about a contract extension, we need to look at the future, and how big money like that gets allocated.
Kyle Monangai was drafted out of the 7th round last season and he quickly became a key part of Ben Johnson's run game. With Monangai in line behind Swift, the pair combined to give the Bears the third best run game in football. But Monangai might be the very thing that prevents Swift from getting an extension. If the Bears can draft a quality running back like Monangai out of the 7th round and have that much success, what's going to stop them from passing on Swift, using that money elsewhere and drafting another back to line up behind Monangai? That's exactly what NFL executives do.
No matter which way you look at it, the allocation of that money for the future needs to be looked at when we're talking about a Swift extension. Now, the Bears must decide whether to bet on Swift for the future. They have all season long to take stock and make their decision. They already know he fits well under Johnson, but will it be enough to get a big extension?
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