Chicago Bears: Could Trey Burton be a free agent target?
With the Philadelphia Eagles not expecting to sign tight end Trey Burton, the Chicago Bears could target him in 2018 free agency.
The Chicago Bears expect to have a busy offseason. They’ve already let Jerrell Freeman and Josh Sitton go, and more cuts are expected. With the cuts, they free up some salary cap to effectively hit free agency.
One area where the Bears could target in free agency is the tight end spot. They currently have Dion Sims and Adam Shaheen there. Shaheen is the future and is still learning. He’ll get a lot more looks in 2018 than in 2017 but expect a learning curve.
Sims just isn’t someone who you should expect to make a lot of catches. Even with Zach Miller going down and missing half the season in 2017, Sims caught 15 catches for 180 yards and a touchdown. He’s mostly just a blocking tight end. However, a $6.3 million cap hit should result in more than 15 catches.
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Because of this, the Bears should target a veteran tight end in free agency. Teaming a vet with Shaheen helps with his development and gives the Bears a good combination. Additionally, having two big, dependable targets helps with quarterback Mitch Trubisky‘s development.
One such target is Trey Burton. While Burton is still celebrating the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl title, the Eagles made a decision on his status. The Eagles have a cap problem so they’ll probably not re-sign Burton. Burton’s been buried behind starter Zach Ertz and Brent Celek. He caught 23 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns.
With the Bears, Burton will surely get more looks. He’s only 26 so he’s just entering his prime. New Bears head coach Matt Nagy likes to utilize the tight end so having two options really helps the offense.
The Bears need to give Trubisky as many targets as they can. The wide receiver corps will look drastically different from what they previously had. They also need to work at tight end. As I mentioned earlier, the Bears need to develop Trubisky. The more and the better receivers he has, the better his performance.
Next: Chicago Bears free agency preview
Trey Burton would be a good addition to the Bears. He’s young, just entering his prime. Pairing him with Shaheen would give the team a strong tight end unit for years to come.