The Chicago Bears have attempted to transform their team from bottom-dwellers to NFC North contenders in one offseason. In a series of events, the Bears struck deals with wide receiver Allen Robinson and tight end, Trey Burton. While the Robinson signing was great, it was signing Burton that drew a few head shakes. So much so, that according to Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report , he believes the Bears may actually regret signing Burton to such a big deal.
The reason for this is that Burton has done nothing in his four-year career to warrant a $32 million deal.
While the Bears did have funds to throw around, they may have thrown it in the wrong direction. Maybe the Bears were excited to get a player coming off a Super Bowl victory, but still, $32 million is a number reserved for the likes of All-Pro players, not guys who were third on the depth chart just a few months ago.
During his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, Burton played behind Zach Ertz and Brent Celek. In 61 regular season games, Burton would start only five while catching 63 passes for 629 yards and six touchdowns. Now, if Burton had a breakout year in 2017 with the Eagles then maybe this signing would be respected. However, he only caught 23 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns. I guess that’s good enough for the Bears.
While his past production is reason for concern, Burton has the potential to carry the load. But can he? This is why Burton made this list. With the type of money the Bears gave him, Burton will become the starting TE for the 2018 season and will give Mitch Trubisky a big target in the middle of the field.
The Bears are hoping that years under Ertz and Celek have taught Burton what it takes to contribute to an offense. With Robinson and Jordan Howard as the first and second option on offense, Burton could be in a position to easily set career highs in receptions and yards.
The question the Bears must answer is what are their expectations for Burton? As the sixth-highest paid TE in the NFL, Burton will have to get at least 50 receptions for 850 yards and seven touchdowns to give the Bears their money worth.
