The Chicago Bears didn’t wait around with D’Andre Swift. After weighing whether to pay him now or make him prove it again, they chose the route that gives them a little of both: security and restraint.
Swift agreed to a three-year, $33.75M extension before the season started, with $27.5M in new guaranteed money. That keeps him locked in with Chicago for at least the next two seasons and gives the Bears a clearer answer at running back after a big year.
The new deal raises Swift’s average salary from $8M per year on his original three-year, $24M contract to more than $11M annually. That puts him ahead of David Montgomery, Chuba Hubbard, Ashton Jeanty, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Kyren Williams on the running back pay list.
It also lands just under James Cook, who signed a four-year, $46M extension with $30M in guaranteed money. By the numbers, Swift now checks in as the 14th highest-paid running back, while his guaranteed money ranks 11th at the position.
On paper, the contract lines up with what Swift has done in Chicago and beyond. The Bears brought him in after his career-best 1,049-yard season with the Philadelphia Eagles, a jump from his previous high of 617 yards. Before that, he had been more of a part-time piece and never quite clicked with the Detroit Lions.
Even so, he gave Chicago 959 yards in 2024 despite a rough offense and two different play callers. That production made the extension feel like a measured bet rather than a wild swing.
There was still some uncertainty when Ben Johnson arrived, especially because Johnson was in Detroit in 2022 when Swift wasn’t a fit there. But in Chicago’s version of the offense, Swift has looked dynamic.
In 2025, he piled up 1,087 rushing yards and added 299 receiving yards. At 27, and with less wear than many backs his age because of how sparingly he was used early in his career, Chicago decided he had enough left to justify the extension.
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