The Chicago Bears’ offensive overhaul appears underway.
The Bears and running back D’Andre Swift have agreed to terms on a three-year, $24 million contract, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported, per sources.
Swift, 25, is coming off a career-high in rushing yards (1,049) last season with the Eagles, also catching 39 passes for 214 yards and one TD in earning his first Pro Bowl bid in his first year in Philadelphia. The Lions traded Swift to the Eagles on Draft Weekend last April.
Swift will now return to the NFC North after spending his first three seasons in Detroit. The 2020 second-rounder totaled 1,680 rush yards for 18 TDs and 156 receptions for 1,198 yards and seven more TDs in 40 games (16 starts) with the Lions.
Last season was Swift’s first as a full-time starter, starting 15 of his 16 games with the Eagles before sitting out the Week 18 finale. Swift did a lot of his damage early in the season before leveling off, amassing back-to-back 100-yard rush games in Weeks 2 and 3 but not surpassing the 80-yard mark again until Week 15 (92 yards vs. the Giants).
The Bears ranked second in the NFL in rush yards per game at 141.1 last season, but nearly one-third of that production came from QBs Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent. The team appeared to want an upgrade over Khalil Herbert, who finished second on the roster to Fields in rushing yards with 611. D’Onta Foreman, who ran for 425 yards last season, is a free agent.
A Swift-Roschon Johnson combo might give the Bears a good inside-outside tandem. Johnson, a 2023 fourth-rounder of the Bears, ran for 352 yards and caught 34 passes for 209 yards as a rookie.
The Bears are expected to continue making offensive changes, the biggest of which is likely at quarterback, but the expected Swift signing crosses off one big need on the offseason to-do list.