The Cincinnati Bengals are adding some depth to their backfield. On the morning of the NFL's trade deadline, the club executed a trade to acquire veteran running back Khalil Herbert from the Chicago Bears, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. Chicago will receive a 2025 seventh-round pick in exchange for Herbert.
This move comes as Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced that running back Zack Moss will be out indefinitely due to a neck injury. Moss missed last week's win over the Las Vegas Raiders, and this addition of Herbert not only provides insurance for Cincinnati but possibly indicates a long absence for the veteran back.
In Herbert, the Bengals get a capable runner who has over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in his career. This season, he has fallen out of favor in the Bears backfield with the arrival of D'Andre Swift along with Roschon Johnson factoring into the carries, so he proved more useful as a trade asset for Chicago rather than a contributor on the field. Through Week 9, Herbert has carried the ball just eight times for 16 yards and a touchdown while playing in 7% of the offensive snaps.
Before this season, however, Herbert had put up impressive totals. The 2021 sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech has totaled back-to-back seasons of at least 700 yards from scrimmage while averaging 5.1 yards per carry over that stretch from 2022-2023.
He'll now work behind Chase Brown in the Bengals backfield. Last week, Brown rushed for 120 yards on 27 carries.