Bears Reportedly Traded Khalil Herbert for Seventh Round Pick

Shane Waldron must really trust Travis Homer.

Or maybe they plan to give Doug Kramer more carries.

The Bears are third overall by trading running back Khalil Herbert to the Cincinnati Bengals. In return, the Bears received a seventh-round draft pick.

Herbert’s contract expires after this season. Herbert, a former starter and former Bears GM Ryan Pace’s 2021 sixth-round pick, has only carried eight carries for 16 yards this year and has two catches for 4 yards.

As a running back, Herbert seemed ideal for return kicks this year due to the changing rules on returns and his own past experience receiving kicks. However, he has only one return return for 28 yards this season.

Herbert started nine games last season and has started 12 games in his career. He played 48 games for the Bears in four seasons, gaining 1,791 yards on 372 carries for a very healthy 4.8-yard average.
He had nine rushing touchdowns and caught passes for 291 yards and two TDs.

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The overall performance of starter D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson in training camp made it clear that Herbert would be the third this season.

Herbert was planned to be in the starting lineup last year after David Montgomery left for Detroit in free agency. He made nine starts, gaining 611 yards on 132 carries, but split time with Roschon Johnson and D’Onta Foreman. He will also miss 2022 and 2023 due to injury, missing four games in 2022 and five games last year.

Homer became the third running back and gained 16 yards on three carries this season. He was with the Bears last year but didn’t get a carry or pass reception. His value this year is his pass blocking, knowledge of Shane Waldron’s offense and ability after playing in Seattle from 2019-2022, the final two years of Waldron’s attack.

Homer averaged 5.5 yards per rush, largely as a third-down type of back. He never attempted more than 25 rushing attempts in a season and averaged 21 rushing attempts per year for Seattle.

Last year, the Bears lost their first three running backs due to injuries and were forced to move Darrynton Evans, who carried the ball 30 times.

So it’s not out of the question that they need a third running back, but it seems like they prefer Homer’s system experience over the production they’ve had with Herbert in the past.

But if they’ve fallen this far down the depth chart due to injuries, maybe they can turn to Kramer.

Twitter: BearsOnSI