The Chicago Bears will have a tough decision to make when it comes to David Montgomery and his free agency. One name that could come and potentially replace Montgomery in free agency is Alexander Mattison.
Should Chicago Bears sign Alexander Mattison in free agency?
The big difference that will make Mattison appealing is his salary. Spotrac has him projected for a $2.2M salary next season, Most would see David Montgomery making four or five times as much. The Chicago Bears will have to debate if the difference is worth it.
I can show per rush, per target, and per this and that, but that is hard because Mattison's workload is the drawback. Mattison has been the backup to Dalvin Cook for all four of his NFL seasons. His career high in rushes in one season is 134. He has gone over 100 rushes just twice. On the flip side, the career low for Montgomery is 201 last season, and he has three seasons over 220 rushes.
Mattison has been more efficient, but Mattison has never had double his workload in a season. You could see him wear down, or not be able to handle that many carries week in and week-out.
The one thing to consider is that Montgomery having 201 carries was with this new coaching staff, With the emergence of Khalil Herbert, and the team looking to stick to more of a committee, you could argue that Mattison would not be expected to see that many rush attempts. Asking Mattison for 200 attempts would be a lot, but 175 could be more reasonable.
Beyond that, he is the perfect fit next to Herbert. When they came out of the NFL draft, Mattison and Montgomery were profiled similarly. Mattison has the power, he can pass-protect and has good enough pass-catching ability that he can fill the role that Montgomery played. Mattison may even have more juice than Montgomery, but with Herbert, they will be relying on him in other areas.
The duo makes sense. The lack of carries is concerning, but also more appealing when you consider the wear and tear of Montgomery. Mattison will be 25 next season, so if there was a free agent to bet on, it would be the relatively young back who spent most of his time as a backup. The Chicago Bears may be looking to sign Alexander Mattison at a fraction of the cost of David Montgomery.