Howard, 24, is entering the final year of his rookie deal and coming off the most unproductive season of his three-year NFL career. He rushed for only 933 yards (3.7 yards per carry) in 16 games.
A potential trade of Howard would come as no surprise, given the Bears have already begun to explore other options at running back. General manager Ryan Pace acknowledged the team's interest in then-free agent Kareem Hunt, who ultimately signed with the Browns. The Bears have also met with several running backs at the NFL Combine.
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Given the Bears only own five picks in the NFL Draft and have limited salary cap space, a deal of Howard makes sense. There's also the matter of his fit in coach Matt Nagy's offense. Howard rushed for 2,435 yards his first two seasons with the Bears but wasn't a natural piece in Nagy's plans.
"When you're dealing with running backs for us in this offense, you want to be able to have a guy that has really good vision that can make guys miss," Nagy said when asked of running backs at the NFL Combine. "At the same time, there's that balance of being a hybrid, being able to make things happen in the pass game, too, but yet to where you're not one-dimensional. And that's not easy."
A deal of Howard couldn't become official until next Wednesday at 3 p.m. with the start of the new league year.