The NFL transaction wire revealed that the Bears worked out three veteran running backs on Tuesday, as pointed out by NFLTradeRumors.
The running backs who tried out for Chicago are as follows:
- Royce Freeman
- Kylin James
- Dillon Johnson
It isn’t particularly surprising the Bears are looking to add at running back. Roschon Johnson hasn’t played in the preseason yet due to injury, and Travis Homer missed their matchup in Week 2 due to a calf injury he suffered against the Dolphins. Kyle Monangai also missed the Buffalo game for undisclosed reasons,
while undrafted rookie Deion Hankins suffered a knee injury of his own against the Bills.
Of the bunch, the most notable name is Royce Freeman. He has been in the NFL since 2018, having been a third-round pick by the Broncos out of Oregon. In college, he was a third-team All-American and a first-team All-Pac-12 in 2015.
Freeman is a 6-foot-0, 238-pound back who has bounced around the league the last few seasons. He has played for seven different teams in his eight-year career, including two separate stints with the Rams. He was briefly on the Bears’ practice squad in December of 2024.
Kylin James is a rookie who played last season at UNLV after a successful three seasons at FCS school Central Arkansas. He proved to be a versatile back with 1,288 rushing yards and 1,140 receiving yards during his time in Central Arkansas, and he ran for 653 yards and five touchdowns for UNLV on 7.3 yards per carry. It’s worth noting James also worked out for the Packers last week.
Dillon Johnson heads into the second year of his professional football career in 2025. He spent three seasons at Mississippi State before transferring to Washington in 2023, where he served as the starting running back during their run to the national championship game. He ran for 1,195 yards and 16 touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carries for the Huskies that season. He spent 2024 on the Panthers’ practice squad after initially being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Titans coming out of the draft.
