Among the worst-kept personnel secrets in the NFL this season and heading into the next is how badly the Kansas City Chiefs need to upgrade at the running back position, though the best pathway may be one few have yet to broach.
Presumably players like Breece Hall and Travis Etienne Jr. are going to become free agents and will be available to the Chiefs. Kansas City nearly traded for Hall ahead of the mid-season deadline but got caught up in an argument over whether he was worth a third- or fourth-round pick, and discussions fell through.
That provides a strong indication into the Chiefs’ way of thinking about the RB position. Hall was the 7th-ranked back in the league in 2025, per Pro Football Focus’s advanced-metrics grading system. And Kansas City’s offense could have desperately used his skill set alongside quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Yet still, it wasn’t worth a third-rounder to team brass.
So if that’s how the franchise feels about the position, why would it want to commit a projected $41.6 million to Hall over a new four-year contract, especially when KC is facing a $62.4 million salary cap deficit in 2026 as of Tuesday, January 27 and is probably going to need to spend on the defensive line, offensive line secondary and pass-catching corps?
Such a deal for Hall does not add up. Drafting RB Jeremiyah Love out of Notre Dame with the No. 9 overall pick absolutely does, but more and more draft analysts are predicting the New Orleans Saints will nab the Heisman Trophy finalist one pick earlier at No. 8.
However, a stopgap solution could exist in the form of a trade for Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift, who has one year left on his contract and is coming off of a career campaign.
Bears Like D’Andre Swift, but May Be Willing to Move Him as Part of RB Upgrade
GettyChicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift.
Swift finished the year with 1,087 rushing yards and nine TDs, both career highs. He also rushed for 4.9 yards per carry, the second-best mark of his six-year professional tenure, which includes a Pro Bowl selection as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. Swift added 34 catches for 299 receiving yards and one touchdown.
He is entering the third season of a three-year contract worth $24 million total in 2026. But despite a stellar campaign, head coach Ben Johnson and company have reasons to deal him out of Chicago.
First of all, cutting or trading Swift will shave $7.5 million off the Bears’ salary cap next year, which the team can use to bring in a running back perhaps more suited to Johnson’s offense and a who might prove a better pairing with backup RB/seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai.
Analysts have also linked the Bears to Etienne, and possibly even Hall, this offseason. Another option could be Kenneth Walker III of the Seattle Seahawks who will become a free agent in March as well, assuming he doesn’t extend before that.
Johnson was part of a group with the Detroit Lions that traded Swift to Philly three years ago, so it wouldn’t be hard to imagine him doing so again in the name of cap savings. That is especially true if the team could reallocate that money to a rusher with more promise to a run game in Chicago that finished No. 3 in the regular season (144.5 yards per game) in Johnson’s first year as head coach.
Chiefs May Come Up Just Shy of Jeremiyah Love in NFL Draft
GettyRunning back Jeremiyah Love of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Kansas City is less reliant on the run game than Chicago when Mahomes is healthy, which he presumably will be at some point early next season after tearing his ACL.
Swift is only 27 and would only be on the Chiefs’ books for one season at a base salary of $6.4 million. Plus he represents a significant production/health upgrade over Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt.
Swift’s contract would be superfluous in Kansas City if the franchise can land Love in the draft, though doing so might require them to trade up. Dalton Wasserman of PFF was only the latest to project Love to the Saints in his mock that published Monday.
“The Saints ranked 31st in the NFL in rushing grade this season, and Alvin Kamara is entering his age-31 season in the final year of his contract,” Wasserman wrote. “Jeremiyah Love would give New Orleans an explosive backfield option to help jumpstart Kellen Moore’s run game. Love ranked second in the FBS in rushing grade (93.7) and fourth in explosive runs (39).”
It’s hard to say exactly what it might cost the Chiefs to leapfrog the Saints and secure Love. And whatever draft asset proves necessary might well be worth it considering how he projects to the NFL and how badly the Chiefs need RB talent at value.
But the position tends to be more interchangeable beyond the upper-echelon of stars who play it in the league every season. Thus, landing a healthy and productive RB like Swift for a fourth-round pick or the like, then using the No. 9 selection on an offensive or defensive lineman and going a different longterm route at running back in 2027 might be the Chiefs’ best way forward.
Chiefs Trade Pitch Nets $24 Million RB at Value if KC Misses on Jeremiyah Love