The Chicago Bears aren’t strangers to head-scratching moves in recent history. GM Ryan Pace is hardly immune to mistakes. There are some decisions he’d like to have back. One that remains hotly debated even today was trading Jordan Howard back in the spring of 2019 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
There were plenty of theories as to why they did this. It was Howard’s final year on his rookie contract and Pace didn’t want to pay big money to a running back. Some rumors indicated Howard showed up out of shape for training camp in 2018 which caused the coaching staff to sour on him.
Truth be told though most agree it was because he lacked versatility. Head coach Matt Nagy wanted a back who could not just run but also be a threat as a receiver. Howard was more of a classic ground-and-pound guy. Thus he was dealt for a 6th round pick. Months later as the season unfolded, it became clear the Bears offense couldn’t run the ball.
Many fans said trading Howard was a primary reason for that. Others blamed the offensive line. Still others blamed Nagy’s play calling. It certainly didn’t help when the former Bear ran over them in Philadelphia during the season.
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The Jordan Howard theory just took a wild turn
Where it gets really interesting is what happened on ESPN 1000. One the Waddle & Silvy show, Marc Silverman spoke to his co-host about a little encounter they had at the Super Bowl back in February. One that shined a fascinating new light on the Howard argument.
Silvy: “We sat there at the Super Bowl and do you remember who sat across from us and said, ‘You know what the problem was this year for the Bears? I think they were missing the Howard kid.’ Who told us that?”
Waddle: “It was Sean Payton.”
Silvy: “Sean Payton was telling us that!”
Payton is considered by most to be one of the best head coaches in the NFL and arguably its best offensive mind. For him to come right out and say that unprompted? It’s hard not to stop and think.
There is no question that in 2018, the Bears offense had an identity with Howard. They were 6th in rushing attempts and he was their primary hog. Over the final five games of that season, he was averaging 4.88 yards per carry and topped 15 carries in a game four times. The Bears were 4-1 in those games.
A year later, the team had no identity.
It felt like Nagy tried to shift it to Mitch Trubisky but that did not work out as planned. Without the steady presence of Howard to lean on, the offense completely fell apart. Not until a year later did they get back to what they were good at, this time with David Montgomery in that role.
Perhaps Nagy learned a lesson that Payton experienced himself during his long coaching tenure. Don’t unload the beating heart of a unit unless there is absolutely no choice.
