Chicago Bears: Would They Dare Trade Jordan Howard?

Before people lose their minds this is not about the fact the Chicago Bears will trade Jordan Howard. That is far from likely in any context.

This is exploring the possibility of whether they would? There is no question that Howard has been their best offensive weapon over the past two years. Trading him away given their lack of options at wide receiver would seem unwise to say the least. At the same time, there is a lingering sense that he may not be as secure in his position as some might think. The primary reason for this, ironically, is the arrival of new head coach Matt Nagy.

It’s becoming clear that the Bears are planning to move towards more of a spread offense concept. Something that fits the skill set of quarterback Mitch Trubisky far better than whatever Dowell Loggains tried to employ this past season. He’ll be aided by former Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich, one of the masterminds behind those great spread attacks of the Marcus Mariota era. One common trait of these offenses, and something that makes the Howard situation interesting?

The running backs had to be constant threats in the passing game.

Howard has continued to struggle as a pass catcher for Bears

Facts are facts. Howard is an excellent traditional running back. He displays vision, power, and acceleration to find holes on the ground for constant nice gains. The problem is no team will take him seriously as a threat in the passing game. Why? He hasn’t given them a reason to. Over his first two seasons in the NFL, Howard has been targeted 82 times by his quarterback on a pass play. In that span, he has 52 catches but also a whopping 12 drops. He’s led the Bears in that category two-straight seasons.

This could be a problem in the eyes of Nagy. One merely has to look at his offense in Kansas City this past season for an idea why. Kareem Hunt, their breakout rookie star was targeted 63 times in the passing game. He only dropped two passes. Fellow back Charcandrick West was targeted an additional 34 times. He didn’t drop any. He and Hunt combined for 605 yards receiving, a healthy chunk. This offense doesn’t function at its peak without a back who can reliably catch the football.

So again. Say Nagy isn’t as high on Howard as Fox and the previous coaches were. What could the Bears conceivably get back were they to trade him?

Howard’s value is about as high as it will ever get

The great news is if the Bears decided to make this move, they’d likely get massive interest from around the league. First of all, Howard is a two-time Pro Bowler who has surpassed 1,000 yards in two-straight seasons. He’s also just 23-years old. His shelf life has plenty of wear and tear left to go. Last but not least, his rookie contract still has two years left on it. So any team making a deal would get him for pennies over the next two seasons. This combined with his clean injury history and zero off-the-field issues, his value is sky high.

Next: Chicago Bears 2018 Mock Draft: Killing Two Birds With One Trade

The last major trade involving a high profile running back around his age was Trent Richardson back in 2013. The Cleveland Browns shipped him off midseason to the Indianapolis Colts for a 1st round pick. Understand that Richardson didn’t have near the proven production or reputation that Howard currently has. So it stands to reason the Bears would be able to get a healthy return were they to make him available.

Teams like Cleveland (irony), Tampa Bay, and Baltimore among others might be willing to make a deal for his services.