The Chicago Bears' decision not to invest a 2025 NFL Draft pick on a running back until the seventh round has led to an influx of fans and casual observers wondering if they will take a flier on a former star running back in Cleveland Browns workhorse Nick Chubb in free agency.
Chubb was essentially booted out of Cleveland after they selected Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson in the Draft. With D'Andre Swift standing out as an average back in Ben Johnson's offense, it makes sense for the Bears to at least keep their tendrils out.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, both the Bears and Washington Commanders have been snooping around the Chubb market in the last few weeks. Chicago seems like a much more natural fit for his services, which has only emboldened a fanbase desperate for a better ground game.
The Bears might be scrapping the bottom of the free agent barrel if they are going to bring on. an aging running back off a career-worst year with major injuries in the past, but Chubb may also have the highest ceiling of any player out there at the moment.
Bears once again linked to free agent RB Nick Chubb
Chubb averaged over five yards per carry in his Browns tenure before his catastrophic injury robbed him of the trademark size-speed combination that made him such an impossible player to tackle in the last few years. Last year, Chubb could only scrape together a paltry 3.2 yards per carry.
The Bears have Swift, Roschon Johnson, and rookie seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai rounding out their depth chart currently. For a coach like Johnson, who is used to switching between two 1,000-yard rushers in Detroit stars David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, that lack of depth is likely not ideal.
Chubb is likely not going to earn a starting role in free agency, but the Bears can give him a chance to earn a respectable workload on a team that has designs on competing for a postseason spot. At this point in the free agent race, that could be the best bet that Chubb has left to take.
Chubb, at this point in his career, is not going to be a transformative player. The best the Bears can hope for is that his ability to grind out tough yards pairs nicely with Swift and takes some of the pressure off Caleb Williams in a pressure-packed second season.