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Yesterday, the Indianapolis Colts agreed to terms with former Eagles and Bears tight end, Trey Burton.

The move comes just one day ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft in an effort to bolster one of the key areas of need on the roster.

Jeff Dickerson, Bears reporter for ESPN 1000 in Chicago, didn’t have many positives to share about Burton with Jeff Rickard and Big Joe Staysniak earlier today on The Fan Morning Show.

When Rickard asked what kind of player the Colts were getting, Dickerson had this to say:

“Let me preface what I’m gonna say by mentioning that I understand why Chris Ballard and Frank Reich signed off on this deal. I mean, the Bears are essentially paying for it…it’s an absolutely no-risk move for the Colts.”

“But as for Trey Burton’s time in Chicago…it was very disappointing. I would probably say that his signing was one of the worst free agent signings that the Bears have had under their general manager, Ryan Pace. It just didn’t work out…They signed him and paid him $22 million guaranteed to be a real impactful tight end in an Andy Reid-type offense.”

Dickerson said the Bears were expecting anywhere from 70-80 catches per year from Burton. Instead, he logged a full season in 2018, hauling in 54 passes for 569 yards and six touchdowns. Last year? He played eight games and had 14 catches for less than 100 yards.

“It’s really hard for me to say what the Colts are getting as far as anyone concerned physically with Trey Burton, or mentally, because I think there were issues in both those categories last year, certainly the health.”

This jumps off the page as a buy-low signing for Ballard in hopes that Burton can produce like he did two years ago. We’ll find out just how confident the Colts are in #80 soon enough. Using one of their first three picks on a tight end would certainly speak volumes.

Dickerson concluded:

“I’ll just kind of sum it up like this guys: To me, it’s very telling when a team says, ‘we’re better off paying a guy to go away’. And the Bears basically paid him to go away.”

 

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