A former starter for the Chicago Bears‘ backfield has found a new home with an NFC playoff contender following the opening week of NFL training camps.
According to the NFL’s daily transaction wire, the San Francisco 49ers signed veteran running back Khalil Herbert to their 90-man roster on Sunday, August 2, adding the former Bears draft pick and 12-game starter to their bottom-roster competition.
Herbert spent his first three and a half seasons with the Bears and opened the 2023 season as their starting running back, holding the role for five games before an injury derailed him. He ran for 1,791 yards and nine touchdowns in 48 games for Chicago.
In 2024, though, the Bears signed veteran D’Andre Swift in free agency and bumped Herbert to the back burner ahead of the final year in his rookie contract. Ultimately, the Bears traded him to the Cincinnati Bengals at the deadline for a seventh-round pick.
Herbert will now have a chance to crack the 49ers’ 53-man roster; although, that may prove easier said than done. Christian McCaffrey is still the unquestioned starter for the Niners, while three recent draft picks — including third-round rookie Kaelon Black — are vying for the depth roles behind him on San Francisco’s initial depth chart.
Bears Landed Kyle Monangai in Khalil Herbert Trade
Herbert might not have made it last in Chicago, but the 2021 sixth-round pick did have a few memorable performances for the Bears. He rushed for a career-high 157 yards in a three-point win over the Houston Texans in 2023, his best of five total 100-yard games.
Oddly enough, Herbert also helped the Bears land their next young star at the position.
After trading Herbert at the 2024 trade deadline, the Bears put the 2025 seventh-round pick they received from the Bengals toward Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai in the draft. Monangai quickly became the No. 2 running back behind Swift and played a key role in helping Chicago finish as the third-best rushing offense in the league in 2025.
All told, Monangai finished with 783 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in 17 games as a rookie, adding another 63 yards in his two playoff games for the Bears.
Questions Arise as Kyle Monangai Misses More Camp
Expectations are high for Monangai coming off a starring rookie campaign. He finished with the fifth-most rushing yards in his draft class in 2025 and is poised to pick up right where he left off in 2026 despite no longer having Eric Bienemy as his position coach.
That said, there are questions about Monangai’s current condition after he missed three consecutive practices to finish the first week of unpadded practice at training camp.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, Monangai is dealing with an undisclosed injury, but the team has not provided any context or further information about his status. He is the Bears’ only player not currently on an injury list who is not participating in practice.
While the Bears are early enough in camp that they don’t necessarily need to hit the panic button, Monangai’s injury situation is a key thing to watch in the coming week as the pads come on. Perhaps Ben Johnson and his coaching staff are simply playing it safe with their young running back as he works through a minor issue, but it could grow into a larger problem for the offense if he misses significant time in the next few weeks.
The Bears count Roschon Johnson, veteran Salvon Ahmed, Brittain Brown and rookie Coleman Bennett as their other backs on the roster entering the second week, but that could change quickly if the team gets the sense that Monangai’s injury is longer term.
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