How the Chicago Bears can control the running back market in 2023

Should the Chicago Bears re-sign David Montgomery?

Montgomery has been a big part of the Chicago Bears offense, especially in 2022, when the running back was a huge factor in the league’s most prolific rushing unit. However, with Montgomery, and a number of other high-quality backs set to become free agents, this may be an opportunity for the Chicago Bears to make their rushing attack even more dangerous in 2023 and beyond.

This offseason, a number of high-profile running backs will likely hit free agency — including Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Miles Sanders, Kareem Hunt, and of course, David Montgomery. Will David Montgomery come back to the Bears on a team-friendly deal or could Ryan Poles even franchise tag him to keep him around? Both are an option.

In recent years, there has been an anti-running back movement. Meaning that teams are less willing to spend a lot of money and/or a high draft pick on a running back. This has been happening for a couple of reasons. First, there is a widely accepted mentality that running backs generally have shorter “primes” where they can be reliably healthy.

Secondly, teams have enjoyed the recent success of backs drafted in the latter rounds, or not at all — Alvin Kamara, Austin Ekeler, and Aaron Jones. A perfect example is the Kansas City Chiefs, who just won the Super Bowl with Isaiah Pacheco serving as their primary back, who the team drafted in the seventh round just a year ago.