An Investment in More than a Running Back

The Buffalo Bills made their guy happy.

Its up to the Bears to do the same with theirs, both of them. Whether they will can be complicated.

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs' four-year deal for a reported $104 million with Buffalo shows again how much key components in the passing game get treated like kings.

Neither of the Bears' necessary contract extensions will approach that kind of money, although Roquan Smith can likely take it to a level somewhere in the vicinity of the deals for Darius Leonard (five years, $99.25) and Fred Warner (five, $98.5 million).

The difference being both of those two have been honored league-wide with the Pro Bowl while Smith hasn't.

But Smith has the upper hand in dealing with the Bears because they've put the defense in his lap. Khalil Mack is gone, Akiem Hicks is gone. Eddie Jackson has underperformed. It's on Smith now and the Bears need to pay him.

The difficult situation for the Bears is coming up with a deal for running back David Montgomery, especially after they cut Tarik Cohen for cap savings after a knee injury which followed his three-year, $17.5 million contract. Will they be reluctant to jump out on a limb again and give a much bigger contract to a player at a position where injuries seem so common?

Although Spotrac.com lists Montgomery's market value at $12.9 million annual average, he hasn't produced at a level to the players at his position who command this money.

David Montgomery Comparatively

Montgomery's best year was 2021 when he tied for fifth in total rushing with 1,070 yards and was 29th in rushing average at 4.3 yards an attempt.

He didn't get to 1,000 yards in either of his other seasons and last year finished ninth in rushing. He was 41st in rushing average at 3.7 yards in 2000 and 43rd last year at 3.8 yards. He has 21 career rushing touchdowns.

Dalvin Cook has a deal averaging $12.6 million and has had 1,135 yards or more for three straight seasons. He has averaged almost one full touchdown more than Montgomery and has comparable numbers as a receiver, averaging 36.4 catches a year to Montgomery's 40.3—although Cook is more of a breakaway threat as a receiver and runner. Cook hit 1,557 yards in 2020.

Other backs in that pay range are Derrick Henry ($12.5 million annually), Aaron Jones ($12 million), Nick Chubb ($12.2 million) and Joe Mixon ($12 million).

In most cases you could look at the cost of those deals and say they're old contracts. They're only a year or two old but at most positions in the NFL a year or two means millions. It's not quite that way at running back, a position where the league discards players like last week's trash.

It's tragic how the position of Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders has become so devalued.

No one would mistake Henry's production for Montgomery's, with 2,027 yards rushing in 2020, three straight 1,000-yard seasons and 65 career rushing TDs.

Montgomery's game is more similar to those of Jones, Chubb or Mixon. Chubb has had seasons of 1,494 and 1,259 yards while Jones has had two seasons (1,084 and 1,104) with more yards than Montgomery's best.

In Montgomery's case, though, the Bears must look to their future and project. There is more involved than just Montgomery's yardage total, which has been limited by a mediocre offensive line and a low-level complementary passing attack.

There aren't many players who give the effort Montgomery does with this little help and still maintains a positive team attitude.

What would Montgomery be with better blocking and with Justin Fields running an efficient passing attack? No doubt he'd be capable of so much more.

The Bears already recognize this.

"It's a little unfair to highlight individual players in a team sport but I want to commend David Montgomery and Roquan Smith, who gave everything they had on every play. That's why they're fan favorites," team owner George McCaskey said.

"It's a little unfair to highlight individual players in a team sport but I want to commend David Montgomery and Roquan Smith, who gave everything they had on every play. That's why they're fan favorites."

The question is how much of a favorite do they consider Montgomery in the sad market for backs.

When an owner is singling a player out like this, they should ask for every possible penny and that projected $12.9 million seems a good starting point.

The Bears are rebuilding and GM Ryan Poles told reporters at the owners meetings he wants a particular player

"The goal was to get as many players into the door as possible that kind of reflected everything that we've said from the very beginning, which is high character, passionate about football, tough, smart," Poles said.

They couldn't find someone more fitting of this description than one who is already inside their doors, and that's Montgomery. These are commodities perhaps even more rare than running or receiving ability in today's NFL.

It's the best reason for paying the asking price for a running back in a market where prices have declined.

The Bears have plenty of cap space going forward in their rebuild and the best place to start is with a player they already have who epitomizes what they say they value the most.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven