Sharpening the rushing attack will be a top priority for Ben Johnson in his first offseason as the Chicago Bears head coach. Chicago couldn’t get a consistent run game figured out last year due to constant shuffling on the offensive line.
With the Bears front office having around $80 million in cap space and three draft picks in the first two rounds, they have more than enough resources to add three new offensive linemen this offseason. The new additions up front will be massive for Caleb Williams, who was sacked a league-high 68 times in his rookie season.
When it comes to the running back room, questions marks were had entering the offseason about what to fully expect. D’Andre Swift was signed to a three-year contract last offseason and served as the Bears lead back in 2024. With an extremely talented running back class in the 2025 draft on the horizon, Swift’s future in Chicago was up in the air with Johnson being hired in January. The new head coach offered some insight on his outlook for Swift at the combine on Tuesday.
Chicago Bears head coach is excited to work with D’Andre Swift
Among the many things Johnson touched on when speaking to the media at the combine on Tuesday, Swift was a topic of conversation. The two worked together in Detroit and Johnson made it known that he is excited to have the former Georgia Bulldog in his backfield once again.
“I think very highly of him, explosive athlete,” Johnson said. “It’ll be fun to work together again with him this springtime.”
Ben Johnson on D’Andre Swift: “I think very highly of him, explosive athlete.”
“It’ll be fun to work together again with him this springtime.” pic.twitter.com/6a9M9E0tqO
— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) February 25, 2025
Despite all of his experience in the league, Swift just turned 26 in January. The 2025 campaign will be his sixth in the NFL with Chicago being the third franchise that he has spent time with. Swift had nearly 1,000 yards on the ground a year ago (959) on 253 carries and he scored six times.
He averaged 3.8 yards per carry after having an incredibly slow start to begin the season. If Swift was able to put together an overall average season of production with a broken offensive scheme and line, he could have the chance to explode being back with Johnson calling the shots.
It appears that the Chicago Bears will keep D’Andre Swift after all
There were some who believed that Swift could have been a cap cut this offseason for the Bears, even though he wouldn’t have saved the franchise that much money at the end of the day. Johnson’s comments on Tuesday cement that the veteran will be around for his second season in the Windy City as an important part of this developing offense.
Even though Swift is set to return, that doesn’t prevent Chicago from going out an adding another talented running back. Roschon Johnson was the other back next to Swift in 2024, but the new man in charge of the Bears offense could demand more from the type of backs he wants in his system this year.
Four running back prospects that could intrigue the Bears in the draft this year are Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, TraVeyon Henderson and Kaleb Johnson. All of them would be perfect compliments to Swift in the Bears offense and it’s known how much their new offensive guru likes two-back systems, so it would make plenty of sense.
Chicago Bears GM gets brutally honest on ‘aggressive’ free agency approach
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