After hiring head coach Ben Johnson, there are some clear to-do's in order for the Chicago Bears.
One of them is, of course, fixing the offensive line. But, another intriguing task is adding talent to the running back room. Will D'Andre Swift stick around and spend a second stint with Johnson after first playing beneath him with the Detroit Lions?
One NFL insider believes he knows the fate of Swift and it makes sense when fully laid out.
ESPN's Dan Graziano included Swift in his recent column about salary cap questions and scenarios for all 32 teams.
"Swift is making $8 million this year, and of that, $6.11 million is fully guaranteed. So there's a good chance he's on the 2025 roster."
Digging into the numbers of his contract, a Swift release (pre-June 1) would save the Bears only about $500,000. Putting any bias or emotion from this past season aside, it does make sense for Chicago to keep him around.
While Swift has been mostly effective when in open space and if his blocking is superb, the hope is that the Bears do indeed improve their offensive line so that he can flourish. Fans might have gotten tired of seeing Swift go down on contact more often than not, but the reality is, he was a very productive back when he had a little extra space to work with.
The Bears are predicted to add another running back and copy Detroit's offensive system
In addition to keeping Swift around, Graziano believes what most Bears fans also believe: the Bears are going to add another running back.
"But there has been a lot of chatter out there about the Bears adding another back -- most of it based on the David Montgomery/Jahmyr Gibbs formula that the Lions used when new Bears coach Ben Johnson was their offensive coordinator," he wrote.
With free agency not necessarily offering a plethora of premier backs, it makes the most sense for Chicago to find their second running back via the 2025 NFL Draft. Graziano would agree.
"I think it's more likely the Bears draft a running back in one of the early rounds than sign one in free agency," he finished.
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A lot of fans would like the idea of Chicago drafting Ashton Jeanty at no. 10, but other fans will argue against that move until they're blue in the face. Jeanty is an intriguing prospect and one of the best running backs we've seen come out of college in recent memory, but he'll cost that precious no. 10 overall pick.
In the second and third rounds, the Bears could still easily find an excellent compliment to Swift. Options include TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins out of Ohio State, Iowa's Kaleb Johnson or Omarion Hampton out of North Carolina.
Even then, there are still other talented backs beyond those select few.