The Chicago Bears have not made any big decisions since Ryan Poles has been hired as General Manager. However, one of the first things he will be asked to do is to extend David Montgomery. George McCaskey went out of his way to praise Montgomery at the end of the season and identified him as a building block, so you know this means a lot to him.
Now, the question becomes, what type of deal will the Chicago Bears be looking at? When they drafted him he fell into the third round which gave the team a bargain, but with one year left he will likely be cashing in before he plays another cheap snap.
Two running backs who likely paved the way for him are Aaron Jones and Joe Mixon. Both running backs signed extensions with their team recently. These two came from the 2017 draft, and now Montgomery from the 2019 class will follow what they got.
Below you can see how the three compare to each other since Montgomery has entered the NFL.
| Rush | Rush | Rush | Rush | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | Rec | Yds | TD | Y/R |
| 1 | Aaron Jones | 608 | 2987 | 29 | 4.9 | 148 | 1220 | 11 | 8.2 |
| 2 | Joe Mixon | 689 | 2770 | 21 | 4.0 | 98 | 739 | 7 | 7.5 |
| 3 | David Montgomery | 714 | 2808 | 21 | 3.9 | 121 | 924 | 3 | 7.6 |
You can also see their per-game stats. Montgomery has been a bit healthier, which helps his case, but on a per-game basis, they are all still right in the same area.
| Rush | Rush | Rush | Rece | Rece | Rece | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | Yds | TD |
| 1 | Aaron Jones | 13.5 | 66.4 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 27.1 | 0.2 |
| 2 | Joe Mixon | 18.1 | 72.9 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 19.4 | 0.2 |
| 3 | David Montgomery | 16.2 | 63.8 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 21.0 | 0.1 |
When you look at the contract of these two backs it is easy to figure out what type of deal Montgomery will get. Aaron Jones signed a 4-year $48M with $13M guaranteed. Mixon signed for 4-years, $48M, and $10M guaranteed.
The reality is that Mixon signed his deal before Jones. You can argue injuries and off of the field before the draft may have hurt the case of Mixon as well, but Mixon obviously paved the way, and Aaron Jones just got three million more guaranteed.
The salary cap is going to go up after a year or two of questionable times. Beyond that, Montgomery is a bit younger, and as noted, a bit more reliable than the duo mentioned in this piece.
The floor for David Montgomery is likely the Aaron Jones contract, meaning you should expect something like 4-years, $50M, and $16M guaranteed.
Would that be a deal that you would be willing to give David Montgomery? Would you be surprised If he got more of less?