Jerry and Stephen Jones were adamant this week that they couldn’t afford Derrick Henry, drawing the wrath of Stephen A. Smith. Apparently, the Cowboys couldn’t have afforded D’Andre Swift, either.
The Bears’ running back, who signed an unrestricted free-agent contract at the dawn of the league year, is earning the same as Baltimore’s Henry on an average-annual basis: $8 million.
While Ryan Poles built a solid cast around Caleb Williams, the Chicago general manager also left a lot of observers wondering how much Henry would’ve helped the struggling Bears offense over the first three weeks.
Swift has 68 rushing yards through three games (57th in the league), Henry has 281 (fifth). Swift hasn’t seen the end zone while Henry has four rushing touchdowns, tied for first in the NFL.
And to make matters worse, the two Bears backs on the roster before Chicago signed Swift – Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert – have been more efficient with the ball in their hands through the first three games. In fact, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler said this week the Bears (1-2) could plan to give Johnson an extended look against the Rams (1-2) on Sunday at Soldier Field (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Chicago’s rushing offense ranks next-to-last in the NFL at 72.7 yards per game.
It’s not all bad news for Chicago. Veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen (heel) has returned to practice and could return to action against the Rams after missing two games.