1. RB D'Andre Swift
Team/Contract: Chicago Bears/Three years, $24 million; $15.28 million guaranteed for injury, $14 million fully guaranteed at signing
The Bears seemed to be fairly solidly situated a running back, with Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson in place. Maybe solid isn't quite enough though, and there's a case for that. So, in what was literally the first announced deal of this year's free agency after the legal negotiation window opened (some fast tampering, as some said in the moment), they agreed to terms with Swift on an eye-opening three-year deal.
Pro Football Focus overdid the number here, but even corrected to $8 million per year Swift is still tied for the ninth-highest paid running back in the league now (tied with Derrick Henry).
Based on what they're paying him, Swift is the Bears' No. 1 running back. The only game he missed last season for the Eagles was when he was rested in Week 18, but after a 130-yard game in Week 3 his efficiency dropped (3.9 yards per carry over the next 10 games). A min-surge over his final three games, against three of the four worst run defenses in the league last season, yielded the first 1,000-yard season of his career.
It can be argued, as was easy to see coming, the Eagles failed to use Swift appropriately as a pass catcher (49 targets) and the Bears will naturally feature him more in that area. There's also a case for there being plenty of tread left on his tires, due to being so banged up during his time with the Lions and never topping 155 carries before 2023.
But the Bears bet on a whole of lot of "ifs" and hypotheticals in giving Swift the kind of deal they did. The biggest being that he can be efficient and explosive over a large workload that befits a lead back. Two teams have learned he can't, the second after just one season. The Bears, to the favor of the Lions over the next couple years, are lined up to be No. 3.