Grading the Chicago Bears’ First Few Moves of NFL Free Agency

The 2024 NFL free agency legal tampering period began Monday afternoon, allowing teams to officially negotiate contracts with free agents.

Any contract agreed to does not become official until Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST, but players rarely change their minds once an agreement has been announced.

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles actually got free agency started a little early. On Sunday, the Chicago Bears agreed to terms with two-time All-Pro Kevin Byard, formerly of the Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles. The 30-year-old safety signed a two-year, $15 million deal, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN.

The Bears were in the market for a new starting free safety since they released Eddie Jackson earlier last month, and Byard can fill that role well enough. He played in 10 games for the Eagles last season and pulled in one interception to go with four pass deflections and 58 total tackles, earning a grade of 74.0 from Pro Football Focus.

While it’s not a flashy signing, Byard fills a big hole on the roster and can provide veteran mentorship and stability in a secondary that’s otherwise extremely young. This will be Byard’s ninth season in the NFL and he can impart wisdom on guys like Jaquan Brisker throughout the year. Although he’s not a long-term solution, this is a solid signing that filled a hole and gives the Bears more flexibility for the offseason. And at two years, $15 million isn’t breaking the bank either.

Then, minutes after legal tampering began, the Bears made a surprise deal, coming to terms with running back D’Andre Swift. The contract is a 3-year, $24 million deal, a somewhat hefty price tag for a running back in today’s NFL.

Swift is coming off a career year in Philadelphia, putting up 1,049 yards on the ground and 5 rushing touchdowns, but it’s fair to wonder how much of that production is attributable to what many considered to be the best offensive line in football. The Bears’ offensive line has been much improved since 2022, especially in run blocking, but it’s still a far cry from the wall of talent that Philly has assembled.

The upside to Swift is the role he can play in the passing game. While in Detroit, Swift had back-to-back seasons with 70 or more targets, but this number dwindled to 49 in Philly, where they don’t utilize running backs in the passing game nearly as much. Making the move to Chicago to play in Shane Waldron’s system should see him get back into the kind of role he played in Detroit.

Still, one has to wonder why Poles didn’t simply keep David Montgomery a year ago, $8 million per year probably would have been enough to satisfy him, and frankly, I always thought Montgomery was better than Swift.

While this signing has undeniable potential, I struggle to get too excited about it.

Between Byard and Swift, and considering the lack of any other signings as of this writing, I have to give Ryan Poles a barely passing grade for this first day of free agency. Byard is cheap and fills a need nicely, while the Swift move didn’t make much sense to me. Hopefully Ryan Poles adds an exciting player later tonight or tomorrow.

My Grade: C-