The Chicago Bears are renewing their investment in one of their running backs for the 2025 NFL season amid speculation about them drafting Ashton Jeanty.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears are re-signing veteran Travis Homer on a one-year, $2 million contract for next season, keeping a core special teams player in place as well as running back depth behind D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson.
Homer has played 419 special teams snaps over 27 games for the Bears since he signed his original contract with them in 2023 free agency. He has also occasionally functioned as emergency depth out of the backfield; though, he has just six carries for Chicago.
In essence, Homer’s re-signing is another move for special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, whom new head coach Ben Johnson is retaining on his new coaching staff. The Bears have made similar moves over the past few weeks, including signing two-year extensions with both cornerback Josh Blackwell and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga.
Homer’s return also signals another thing: The door is still wide open for the Bears to add Jeanty — the 2024 Heisman Trophy runner-up — at No. 10 overall in the NFL draft.
Bears’ Free Agency Paves Way for Ashton Jeanty Pick
There has been quite a bit of steam building toward the Bears drafting Jeanty over the past several weeks, from Johnson’s hiring in February giving people ideas about him trying to recreate a former of the Detroit Lions’ backfield to Jeanty openly talking about the possibility of playing with the Bears — both at the Super Bowl and NFL Combine.
The Bears have also scheduled a top-30 visit with Jeanty at Halas Hall, which The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler reported on the heels of the combine at the beginning of March.
More recently, though, the Bears have added to the speculative fire with their roster moves in the first wave of NFL free agency. They rebuilt their offensive line’s interior, trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signing center Drew Dalman. They also beefed up their defensive line with Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo.
While none of those moves telegraph the Bears’ intentions to draft Jeanty, they do clear up many of their major roster needs and open up the board for them to draft boldly.
Bears Emerge as Betting Favorites to Draft Ashton Jeanty
The Bears are a long way from locking in any firm decision about trying to draft Jeanty in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, but the oddsmakers seem to like their chances.
According to the latest DraftKings Sportsbook odds, Jeanty is now favored to land with the Bears (+130) over the rest of the field in the 2025 NFL draft. The Las Vegas Raiders — who hold the No. 6 overall pick — are getting the next-closest odds (+150) with the Dallas Cowboys (+550) and San Francisco 49ers (+1100) trailing farther behind them.
The Raiders are a legitimate problem for the Bears — if both teams want Jeany, that is.
With the No. 6 pick and a clear need at running back, the Raiders are in a prime spot to take Jeanty, but other roster needs could prevail and force them to invest elsewhere. For the Niners (No. 11) and Cowboys (No. 12), though, they will need to either hope the Bears pass on Jeanty or figure out how to trade up ahead of them to land him.
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