The Chicago Bears stayed on the road to face another AFC North foe after their letdown against the Baltimore Ravens. This time, however, head coach Ben Johnson wouldn't have his starting running back to face the Cincinnati Bengals.
Veteran RB D'Andre Swift was ruled out with a groin injury. He played through it over the past couple of weeks, but was unable to practice, and the team chose to err on the side of caution. Notably, that decision may have doomed him after a Bears teammate balled out in his absence.
Bears Can Move on From D'Andre Swift After Kyle Monangai's Breakout
Sunday's game was going to be crucial, as the trade deadline is just a couple of days away and the Bears needed to figure out whether they would have to go after a running back or not. Now, after watching Kyle Monangai dominate on the ground in the 47-42 win over the Bengals, the question is how much more they should wait to make the first-year pro the starter.
Monganai touted the ruck a whopping 26 times for 176 rushing yards, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. He also hauled in three receptions on four targets for 22 yards. Even fourth-year RB Brittain Brown had a solid day, rushing five times for 37 yards and a touchdown. Granted, it was against the Bengals' league-worst run defense, which allows 151.9 rushing yards per game, but it was still remarkable.
The rookie out of Rutgers had already shown flashes of strong play in his previous games, but he finally proved that he can also be trusted with a bigger workload. This was the most snaps he played in a game, and he posted career highs all over the board. Naturally, Monangai's outing could spell bad news for his veteran counterpart.
Swift has had a couple of strong games this season, but he fell back to Earth in the loss to Baltimore. Also, he's never been a star, and there were already some doubts about his future with the organization. The Bears can now choose to cut ties with him in the offseason and take just a $1.3 million dead cap hit, per Spotrac. Otherwise, they'd be in the books for $9.3 million and $8.8 million in 2026 and 2027, respectively, so it doesn't make sense to bring him back if they want to break the chains off Monangai.
It's highly unlikely that the Bears will find a trade partner for Swift this close to the deadline, especially with a lingering soft-tissue injury bothering him. But with the hard-hitting way Monangai dominated inside the tackles, there's no reason not to give him a longer leash now, with Swift ultimately taking a back seat. Besides, an RB-needy team might be desperate enough to play ball with general manager Ryan Poles, so there's no harm in floating Swift's name around.
At the very least, Johnson should probably split Swift and Monangai's carries more evenly when the former returns. Monangai is the future, and Swift should only be auditioning for his next team from now on.