Getty
Running back D’Andre Swift of the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears were Monsters of the Midway — and pretty much everywhere else in the NFL — running the football this season, but there are ways they can improve that phase of the offense in the coming year.
Beyond potentially investing in an upgrade at left tackle and another strong blocker at tight end, the best path toward improvement is upgrading at the running back position. Specifically, that would mean cutting or trading RB1 D’Andre Swift in order to save nearly $7.5 million against the 2026 salary cap and then reinvesting that money into one of the league’s elite rushers.
The top name in free agency is Kenneth Walker II, currently Pro Football Focus’s (PFF) top-ranked running back and scheduled to start the Super Bowl for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8.
PFF dubbed Walker the sixth-best free agent of the 2026 class, as well as the top running back, on Monday, January 26.
“Walker currently leads all running backs in PFF grade (90.7) in what has been a career year,” PFF wrote. “He has also been one of the league’s best at creating beyond his blocking, ranking third at the position in missed tackles forced (65).”
Kenneth Walker Expected to Command Nearly $34 Million as Free Agent
GettyRunning back Kenneth Walker of the Seattle Seahawks.
Walker, a former second-round pick of the Seahawks out of Michigan State in 2022 (No. 41 overall), is playing in the fourth and final year of his $8.4 million rookie contract.
Spotrac projects his market value at $8.4 million per season over a new four-year deal, which would total out to roughly $33.6 million.
Assuming a scenario in which the Bears released Swift, or traded him to a RB-needy team like the Kansas City Chiefs, and then signed Walker to a four-year deal at that number, Chicago would add just $1 million to its 2026 salary cap and secure the running back position for at least three seasons moving forward by pairing Walker with seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai.
Kenneth Walker Slightly Better, Younger Than D’Andre Swift
GettyChicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift.
Swift did not have a bad season in Chicago in 2025. In fact, it was probably the best campaign of his six-year professional career.
He finished with 1,087 rushing yards and nine TDs, adding 34 receptions for 299 yards and a score. Walker’s numbers were incredibly similar, as he posted 1,027 rushing yards and five touchdowns on just two fewer carries, adding 31 catches for 282 yards.
That said, PFF’s advanced metrics afforded Walker a higher rushing grade and receiving grade than Swift by 3.6 points and 5.2 points, respectively. Walker is also two years younger and has two fewer NFL campaigns on his resumé, which theoretically projects to better likelihoods of health and longevity over a new contract.
Walker posted a faster 40-yard dash time (4.38 seconds) than Swift (4.48 seconds) at their respective combines. As a speedier rusher who is better at forcing missed tackles and serves as a more efficient receiver from the position, Walker is among the group of RBs Bears head coach Ben Johnson might consider an upgrade over Swift.
Walker did miss six games with injury in 2024, though he played all 17 contests during this regular season. He also combined to put up 178 rushing yards and four TDs, as well as seven catches for 78 yards, in the Seahawks’ two playoff victories over the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams.
Seattle will try to utilize Walker with equal effectiveness as 4.5-point Super Bowl favorites over the New England Patriots 13 days from now in Santa Clara, California.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
More Heavy on Bears
Loading more stories
