With the first overall pick in April’s draft and a plethora of salary cap space, the Chicago Bears are well-equipped to rebuild the offense around Justin Fields.
Despite missing two games in 2022, Fields finished with an impressive rushing total of 1,143 yards in 2022. Only six players finished with more rushing yards than the second-year quarterback, who was one of the few positives on football’s worst team of 2022.
Speaking to Kenneth Teape of NFL Analysis Network, one former NFL executive is predicting that the Bears will come away with one of the top prizes of 2023 free agency in running back Josh Jacobs:
“Josh Jacobs is going to have a massive market with quite a few contenders interested. However, I think he’ll end up in Chicago. They will build an elite offense around Justin Fields this year and Jacobs will be a key part of doing that.”
Jacobs had the fifth-year option on his rookie deal declined by the Las Vegas Raiders. He responded by finishing as the 2022 rushing champion, racking up 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season.
Adding an explosive running back like Jacobs to a Fields-led offense could take this group to another level. Opposing defenses would have no easy way of containing not one, but two 1,000-yard rushers.
David Montgomery, the Bears’ main running back since 2019, is headed towards free agency. Given the improvement of Khalil Herbert (731 rushing yards last season), it looks like the Bears are ready to move on from Montgomery.
