Chicago traded Howard to Philadelphia on Thursday evening in exchange for a 2020 conditional sixth-round pick that could become a fifth-round slot.
Howard was moved ahead of the final season of his rookie contract, one in which he was slated to make $2.025 million in base salary. He's coming of a relatively disappointing first season in coach Matt Nagy's offense, rushing for a career-low 933 yards (3.7 yards per carry) after totaling a combined 2,435 yards his first two seasons in the league.
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The Bears signaled their interest in finding a better fit for Nagy's backfield in January when they acknowledged having interest in then-free agent Kareem Hunt, who ultimately signed with the Browns. The team signed veteran running back Mike Davis on the first day of free agency and has actively been exploring options in the NFL Draft, having hosted a number of prospects at Halas Hall in March.
"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."
Without Howard, the Bears' backfield consists of Davis and Tarik Cohen -- and soon enough, likely the replacement to Howard in the form of a rookie to be drafted.