Does Trey Burton signing signal release of Dion Sims?
The Chicago Bears were extremely active in the early portions of free agency, getting commitments from Allen Robinson, Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel. Trey Burton is an interesting name who stands out as a swiss army knife.
The Bears were quick to sign Burton, who had more interest than some may realize. This means that he clearly is in their plans moving forward. With the signing of Burton combined with the an early round investment in Adam Shaheen last season, does that mean that Dion Sims days are now numbered?
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The team is not going to give up on Shaheen. If anything they are going to get Shaheen more playing time. With that said, Dion Sims is due $6 million on the salary cap. If they cut him, they save about $5.33 million. Are they really going to pay that much for a third tight end? The team is going to use tight end heavy sets, but not to make him worth that much.
Ben Braunacker is a restricted free agent and Daniel Brown is an exclusive rights free agent. They can bring both back cheaper than Dion Sims.
On top of that, it is not like Sims was necessarily good last season. John Fox clung to veterans over rookies, but it became apparent later into the season that Shaheen was already a more intriguing NFL player than Sims.
Pace has been adamant about building through the draft and has talked about the ability to get out of some of his signings of the past early into their deals. It seems almost certain that the team will either be ripping up the contract of Dion Sims and signing him to a lesser price, or moving on altogether with ease.