Bears RB D'Andre Swift hopes he convinced team to keep him heading into final year of contract
A do-it-all running back is an essential for the Bears in coach Ben Johnson’s offense, and they might already have one in D’Andre Swift.
He completely flipped the outlook on whether he’s a good fit with a renewed north-south running style and a 1,000-yard season after a disappointing 2024 and now, rather than eying the relatively cheap $1.3 million out on his contract this offseason, the Bears have him on board at an affordable $8.8 million this season.
Swift knows there’s some uncertainty, but made a strong case to stay with a career-high 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns.
“I have no idea, but hopefully I did enough for them to want me back because I know I don’t want to go anywhere else,” he told the Sun-Times. “I hope it plays itself out that way. I love the city, I love the coaching staff and the men that I work with. That’s out of my control, but if I had it my way, I’d be back. I don’t want to play nowhere else.”
Johnson played a major part in Swift’s success and his desire to remain with the Bears, which was interesting given their history. While Johnson has maintained he has always seen high potential in Swift, he was part of the Lions’ coaching staff when they traded him to the Eagles for a fourth-round pick in 2023.
In Swift’s first season with the Bears, albeit amid dysfunction in coach Matt Eberflus’ staff and with a struggling offensive line, he often seemed too reliant on running laterally to look for big gains rather than hitting the holes quickly. Swift has said he didn’t change his running style at all this season, but his yards per carry jumped from 3.8 to 4.9 in a more effective system and with a significantly upgraded offensive line.
“First of all, Ben always believed in me as a player, so just him giving me opportunities was great,” Swift said. “The more opportunities I’m given, the more I can make stuff happen.”
It’s hard to deny the impact of former running backs coach Eric Bieniemy as well, and Swift said he was “sad to see him leave” for the Chiefs as offensive coordinator. The Bears have agreed to hire veteran coach Eric Studesville to replace him, and Swift was “excited for this new relationship.”
Bieniemy helped the Bears establish a surprisingly solid backfield tandem with Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai. Going into the season there were doubts from the outside on whether either was what the Bears needed, but those two led the way as the team finished third in the NFL in rushing at 144.5 yards per game.
Swift finished 12th in the league in rushing, and Monangai, a seventh-round pick, ran for 783 yards — fifth in his draft class and 24th in the NFL.
The upside for Swift, who is still in the ideal window for a running back after turning 27 last month, is he believes he can produce even more in Johnson’s offense than he showed last season. He caught a career-low 34 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown, and when playing for Johnson in 2021, he put up 452 yards and two touchdowns on 62 catches. The Lions targeted him 78 times that season.
“I can do more,” he said. “I wish I would’ve been able to contribute a little more in the passing game. We’ve got so many pass-catchers on the field, so whenever it does come up, I try to make something happen with it, but I do know I could do more.”