Roster Move: Bears re-sign running back to one-year deal

Daniel Bartel - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 6 hours ago

The Chicago Bears brought back a familiar face on Monday night as Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson continue to build up their roster. Unlike most of their previous moves, this one isn't going to stand out as a game-changing pickup, but it was a move to bring back one of the Bears best special teams players a season ago.

According to sources, Chicago and veteran RB Travis Homer have agreed to a new contract as Homer will return to Chicago on a one-year, two-million-dollar deal. The deal comes hours after finding out that Chicago worked out Rondale Moore and Mecole Hardman earlier in the day, which indicates that Poles is nowhere near done retooling this roster.

Homer initially signed a two-year deal with Chicago before the start of the 2023 season, and now that his initial deal is over, he wanted to return to the Windy City and has been given a new deal. Homer was considered a roster fringe guy heading into the offseason, especially with former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron no longer in the building. Had it been solely based on his offensive stats, Homer would not have been back in Chicago, but his play on Special teams was worth the return as he was one of their better Special teams players last season.

Travis Homer played just 10 games for the Bears last season and spent more time on special teams (166 snaps) than he did on offense (75). That shouldn't shock you when you look at his track record, as he has spent more than 50% of the special teams snaps on the field since the 2021 season. Looking at his 75 offensive snaps, you will see minimal production for Homer as he logged just six carries for 23 yards in 2024 while shouldering the No. 3 running back role most of the season.

Going a bit further back than that, Homer didn't have a single offensive touch in 2023, as the past two years have seen him delegated to a special teams role. Prior to his time in Chicago, Homer was never seen as a reliable back, and he had been heavily used on special teams since he was drafted. For his career, he has rushed for 476 yards on 89 carries, covering 74 games.

His best season came in 2021 while serving as Chris Carson's backup as Homer picked up a career-best 177 yards on the ground with his lone offensive TD. He also managed to grab 161 yards receiving that season as he showed the ability to catch passes out of the backfield from time to time. Given those low offensive numbers, don't look for him to have much of an offensive role, if any, next season, as he will once again take over as the team's No. 3 back.

That is not a bad thing, as the Bears did need some emergency depth at that position, but should he move into the No. 2 spot or receive consistent carries, there could be problems offensively. Considering that the Bears elected to bring back Richard Hightower for another season, you can safely assume that Hightower was pushing for the decision to bring back Homer.

After all, good special teams players are hard to find, so when you have one in your locker room, it's best to hang on to that player for as long as you can.