3 Offseason Moves That Will Backfire on the Bears

Which moves could end up backfiring on the Chicago Bears this offseason?

The Chicago Bears have made a ton of moves in the 2024 offseason as they continue to shape the roster to fit the vision of general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. But not every move is going to work out the way they hope.

The Bears are getting a mulligan on having the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft after passing on CJ Stroud in 2023. Although that trade did land the Bears a very important piece in DJ Moore, it more importantly set them up to right their wrongs and take a quarterback this offseason.

Which moves made by Poles could end up backfiring on him, though? Maybe it’s someone he brought in, and maybe it’s someone he let go. We’re going to take a look at the three moves most likely to backfire on Poles this year.

1. Signing D’Andre Swift at RB

Forget for a second that the Bears have some promising talent at the running back position already on the roster in Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson. Let’s talk about the decision by Ryan Poles to pay D’Andre Swift a big-money contract (for the RB position, anyway) over going after other guys in this spot.

It’s possible that someone like Saquon Barkley was just motivated to play in the NFC East, so you can’t hold that one against them. But what about Josh Jacobs coming to the Green Bay Packers? The difference in price between Swift and Jacobs is about $4 million per season on an average annual value basis. But Jacobs is clearly the superior player and a recent All-Pro at the position.

The Bears choosing D’Andre Swift over other free agent running back options, or even just their own in-house options, is something that could come back to bite them.