When Ben Johnson became the Chicago Bears' head coach, one of the team's biggest free agent signings from the 2024 offseason was easy to put on the hot seat. Johnson had history with running back D'Andre Swift over three seasons (2020-2022) with the Detroit Lions, and after Johnson's first season as the offensive coordinator Swift was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Bears clearly tried to add to their running back depth chart in a notable way during the offseason, it just didn't come together and it was not forced. Ultimately, they used a seventh-round pick on Kyle Monangai and Roschon Johnson was perhaps in line for more chances behind Swift.
Through four games, even as Johnson takes his share of accountability as the play caller, the Bears are 24th in the league in rushing (102.3 yards per game), and they are tied for 25th in yards per carry (3.8). Remove the rushing production quarterback Caleb Williams has thus far (24 carries for 110 yards), and things look worse.
Swift's average of 3.3 yards per carry would be his career-low for a season, and the peripheral numbers (Rushing Yards Over Expected, etc., via Next Gen Stats) are not kind to him so far this season. Monangai has gotten more snaps over the last three games, but Swift still has 56 of the Bears' 73 running back carries so far this season (76.7 percent).
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It's unlikely the Bears will make a significant trade for a running back before this year's trade deadline. This year is as much about evaluation as anything, in Johnson's first year as head coach, and with that in mind, future draft capital will not be easily parted with. Finding someone to replace Swift as the lead back will likely wait until the offseason, however that looks.
At 2-2 heading into their bye week, where the 2025 season goes from here for the Bears is an interesting mystery. Alex Kay of Bleacher Report has included them among six fringe contenders, as he has offered up a trade proposal to put each of them over the top.
Kay's trade proposal for the Bears looks like this.
Chicago Bears receive: RB Breece Hall
New York Jets receive: 2026 third-and sixth-round draft picks
"The Bears may be .500 but they have some major issues to sort out in the backfield, an area that didn't see any notable offseason additions outside of seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai."
"D'Andre Swift remained the team's RB1 after a disappointing 2024 performance and hasn't fared much better despite the schematic shift ahead of his second year with the club."
"Swift is averaging an abysmal 3.3 yards per carry through the first four games of 2025, regressing from the already-concerning 3.8 YPC he posted last season. With his receiving work (13 catches for 85 yards) also failing to move the needle, there's a real need for a change to Chicago's backfield platoon."
"With Monangai averaging a modest 3.6 yards per carry and Roschon Johnson failing to garner even a single touch in 2025, it doesn't appear the Bears have an in-house option to usurp Swift."
The Jets fell to 0-4 this season with a loss to the Miami Dolphins, and that may have finally broken Hall after multiple years of losing. He had a productive game against the Dolphins, with 119 yards from scrimmage on 19 touches, and it's worth wondering what he could do in a more functional offense. He's also in the final year of his contract, with no indication that the Jets have plans to sign him to an extension.
Kay proposed the idea of Hall as a trade target for the Bears, with the idea that No. 2 back Braelon Allen would step into a bigger role for the Jets. But that equation has changed.
Allen suffered a knee injury against the Dolphins, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network has reported he's likely headed for IR. If the Jets are open to trading Hall, which is unclear, it's now in line to wait until basically right at the trade deadline. By then, though, as more losses inevitably pile up, maybe the Jets will be fully committed to being a deadline seller.
Hall is still just 24 years old, so he is theoretically a long-term running back solution for any team that might trade for him. The Bears are in the market for someone of that ilk, presumably far more than they would be in the market for an older back (Alvin Kamara?).
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If second and sixth-round picks in next year's draft would be what it takes to get Hall, as Kay proposed, that is something the Bears should be interested in. It may just require some patience, and running Swift out there as the lead back for a few more games after the bye to further prove that a change needs to be made.