Thursday night the Bears stunned everyone when they shipped out running back Jordan Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles for a sixth round pick in 2020 which according to NFL.com could turn into a 5th rounder based on conditions within the trade.
And while Philly fans are surely getting off at the notion of having a guy whose rushed for over a thousand yards in two of the three seasons he’s seen in the NFL while proving to be and extremely durable option, Bears fans have to wonder what the hell the Chicago front office is thinking when they pulled the trigger on this deal?
Off hand you’d have to figure a guy whose amassed 3,370 rushing yards in his first three season is worth a shit ton more than a sixth or even fifth rounder. Not to mention this trade was orchestrated with no clear plan to make up for the production that’s now lost with Howard being gone.
Tarik Cohen is a fine complimentary back and looked very good in Matt Nagy‘s offense but has his 5-foot-6, 180 pound frame done anything to prove that he’s capable of handling the entire workload?
Free agent signing Mike Davis could be an intriguing option given his return to productivity of sorts his last two seasons in Seattle. However his numbers in that ‘return’ simply don’t sniff the production that Howard has provided the Bears over the course of the last three seasons.
Nonetheless this makes it all the more likely that the Bears add a back in the draft when they make their first pick 87th overall. Essentially at this point though you’re hoping someone like David Montgomery (Iowa State), Miles Sanders (Penn State) or even Alex Barnes (Kansas State) is available and like always, there’s no guarantees they even pan out out of college, not to mention help recoup some of the lost yardage with Howard.
Bottom line, any thought of trading Howard isn’t a thought that shouldn’t be had. The problem here is the perception that the Bears have no viable plan beyond the trade itself.