Who Should I Start? Hayden Hurst or D'Andre Swift

Thursday, March 14, 1:52 PM

Free-agent tight end Hayden Hurst (concussion) is visiting the Los Angeles Chargers with the intention to sign with the team, according to a source. Hurst was recently released by the Carolina Panthers. The 30-year-old veteran signed a three-year, $21.75 million deal with the Panthers last offseason but missed the final eight games last year due to a serious post-traumatic amnesia concussion. There were questions as to whether Hurst would even continue his career, but he's apparently recovered and plans to continue playing in 2024. Veteran Gerald Everett is no longer in LA, but they still have Donald Parham Jr. and recently signed Will Dissly to the TE room, so Hurst would be battling for playing time with those two if he were to sign with the Chargers. Hurst, a former first-rounder (25th overall) in 2018, caught just 18 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown in Carolina last year.

Tuesday, March 26, 4:39 PM

The Chicago Bears signing of former Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles running back D'Andre Swift was one of the first moves of free agency, and head coach Matt Eberflus suggested he will be a passing game weapon for the organization. "We just felt that we wanted a home-run hitter there. I think D'Andre brings that. We wanted a weapon back -; a guy who could be a weapon out of the backfield," Eberflus said. "I know that in situational football it's very difficult to be able to have the two guys outside covered, two tight ends covered, and then you got another situation where you have the weapon back inside. So that was critical." It sounds like Chicago is planning to utilize Swift out of the backfield more often, which was a role he excelled in while in Detroit. Swift posted just a 10% target share in his lone season in Philadelphia after being at 15.1% in 2022 and 18.4% in 2021. With Chicago almost certainly slated to take USC's Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Swift could see a ton of usage underneath as a receiver while Williams feels out the NFL game.