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The Chicago Bears made running back Khalil Herbert inactive for Week 8’s game against the Washington Commanders, perhaps providing another clue of their intentions to deal him away to another team before the NFL trade deadline.
Herbert rushed for 1,775 yards and eight touchdowns over his first three seasons with the Bears, averaging a strong 4.9 yards per carry, but he has vanished behind D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson in the offense over the first eight weeks of the 2024 season. Herbert has eight carries for just 16 yards and has not touched the ball since Week 3.
The Bears had given Herbert snaps on special teams instead of an offensive role in the weeks leading up to their Week 7 bye, but that ended when the Bears activated fellow running back Travis Homer from injured reserve on October 27. Now, barring another injury to the position, Herbert seems likely to remain the odd man out in the rotation for the rest of his 2024 contract year — making him a sensible trade chip for Chicago.
According to The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, Herbert’s agent received permission from the Bears to shop a potential trade before the league deadline on November 5. He also wrote that he believes the Bears would require a fifth-round pick to part with him.
“GM Ryan Poles probably owed it to Herbert to allow his agent permission to talk to other teams because Herbert has been a good guy in the locker room and a solid player,” Biggs wrote on October 28. “If something makes sense for all parties, that could happen.”
Inspired by Biggs’ intel, here are three trade proposals for the Bears involving Herbert that would make sense for both him and the franchise before the NFL trade deadline:
Dallas Cowboys
Trade proposal: The Cowboys send their 2025 fifth-round pick to the Bears in exchange for Khalil Herbert.
No team makes more sense for a running back trade at the deadline than the Cowboys, whose rushing offense ranks at the bottom of the NFL with just 74.1 yards per contest. In Week 7’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Ezekiel Elliott ran 10 times for just 34 yards while Dalvin Cook added another 12 yards on just six carries, an effort that sank them. While Herbert would not give them a bell-cow starter to solve their problems, he would provide an efficient pair of young legs to help keep their postseason hopes alive.
San Francisco 49ers
Trade proposal: The 49ers package their 2025 sixth-round pick along with Kansas City’s seventh-round pick in exchange with the Bears for Khalil Herbert.
The 49ers are a tougher sell than the Cowboys, but they may have depth concerns with Christian McCaffrey still not healthy and Jordan Mason reinjuring his shoulder in Week 8’s win. San Francisco does not have a fifth-round pick to offer — and likely would not have offered it even if it did with rookie Isaac Guerendo in the mix — but it could be more open to the idea if Chicago is willing to accept a sixth-rounder and (most likely) their worst of two seventh-rounders. Herbert would provide Kyle Shanahan’s offense with a nice change-of-pace back as they look to reclaim the NFC West division.
Las Vegas Raiders
Trade proposal: The Raiders bypass pick compensation and send right guard Dylan Parham to the Bears in exchange for Khalil Herbert.
Picks are nice, but what the Bears could really use right now is an offensive lineman to help them keep rookie quarterback Caleb Williams safe. The Raiders may not love the idea of moving on from their 2022 third-round pick and starting right guard, but they are careening toward another rebuild in 2025 if they cannot turn their season around and already traded away one starter in Davante Adams. Herbert would get a chance to start over in Vegas with Luke Getsy, his offensive coordinator in his best two seasons, and help bolster their second-worst rushing offense (79.0 yards per game). Meanwhile, the Bears would add a quality Nate Davis replacement under contract through 2025.
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