Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is “proud of the progress” the team has made this past season and is excited for the challenge that awaits him this offseason.
“I can tell you right now, we’re all excited for that challenge in terms of building this team back up, making tweaks, tightening screws on the process, and the people that we need to continue to elevate for us to get back to where we were and exceed that, and win championships around here.”
That said, the team can and likely will look a lot different heading into the 2026 season. Chicago, with negative $5.3 million in cap space as of February 11th, according to OverTheCap.com, will have to navigate through some restructures, cuts, and letting players leave during free agency.
However, former Bears $42 million wide receiver Allen Robinson believes Chicago should go after Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker for “two reasons.”
Allen Robinson Urges the Bears to Sign Kenneth Walker in Free Agency
In an appearance with BetMGM Tonight, Robinson explained the two reasons why the Bears should sign Walker during free agency.
“Ben Johnson loves the run game and being able to have a two-headed monster in the backfield,” Robinson said. “You saw that this season. We also saw that in Chicago. Not to mention, being able to lure one of the better players in the NFC from the Super Bowl champion, now to your team, the expertise, what he can do on the field, I think it goes deeper than them just acquiring Kenneth Walker, but for the reasons for them getting him from the Seahawks and also being able to be big in that run game with some of that weapons that they have on the outside and the surgics that we saw from Caleb Williams this season.”
There will be some challenges with making Robinson’s pitch come true. With the negative cap space already mentioned, the Bears owe D’Andre Swift around $8.8 million in 2026.
Walker is arguably the better running back between the two, but people can’t just dismiss Swift’s 1,087 rushing-yard season on 223 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per carry with nine touchdowns.
A Bigger Perspective on Handing a Running Back a Huge Contract
Here’s the biggest factor: take a look at the Super Bowl-winning RBs and their cap hit percentage since 2016:
- 2025, Seahawks, Kenneth Walker, 0.9% Cap
- 2024, Eagles, Saquon Barkley, 1.5% Cap
- 2o23, Chiefs, Isiah Pacheco, 0.4% Cap
- 2022, Chiefs, Isiah Pacheco, 0.3% Cap
- 2021, Rams, Cam Akers, 0.8% Cap
- 2020, Buccaneers, Leonard Fournette, 1.2% Cap
- 2019, Chiefs, Damien Williams, 0.9% Cap
- 2018, Patriots, Sony Michel, 1.0% Cap
- 2017, Eagles, LeGarrette Blount, 0.7% Cap
- 2016, Patriots, LeGarrette Blount, 0.6% Cap
In the past decade, a Super Bowl-winning team’s starting running back did not have a cap percentage higher than 1.5%.
It’s also hard to believe the Bears would be a team that believes they can break that trend. The situation would change drastically if the team decides to cut Swift, but Johnson has made his feelings clear about him.
“He had a great year for us, and we’re going to need more from him going forward,” Johnson said. “I’m not surprised [by Swift’s success] whatsoever. I think I’ve been championing that cause every step of the way. I felt from the outside a need to or a desire to bring more into the running back room, and I felt like our guys were pretty darn strong. Both him and Monangai have turned into a pretty formidable unit there. He’s playing like he’s capable of playing, and I think he can take it up even another notch, and we’re going to challenge him to do so here going forward.”
Don’t get it twisted; signing Walker in free agency would be amazing. He’s an extremely talented player who deserves to get paid this offseason. But it’s not the splash move the Bears should make this offseason.
Bears Urged to Sign Super Bowl Star in Free Agency by Former $42M WR