Was Trey Burton signing a “boneheaded move”?

Bleacher Report saw the Chicago Bears signing of Trey Burton as one of the more boneheaded moves of the offseason, was it?

With a long offseason ahead many are going to put the microscope on the league as a whole and see who has done the best or worst given their situations. It will result in a month or so of lists, rankings, and league-wide think pieces.

Bleacher Report came out with a list recently in which they evaluated “the Most Boneheaded moves from the NFL offseason.” The Chicago Bears made the list for how much money they gave Trey Burton.

Justis Mosqueda of Bleacher Report writes:

"Burton’s new four-year, $32 million contract has raised eyebrows.In his first four years, Burton recorded 629 receiving yards and six touchdowns, numbers 170 players matched or beat. In 2017, he recorded 248 receiving yards and five touchdowns, numbers 49 players matched or beat.For last year’s Eagles, Burton only played 26.5 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, which was the third-most among Philadelphia tight ends. He only played more than 30 percent of Philly’s offensive snaps in three of the Eagles’ games last year.No matter how you do the math, it’s clear Burton will have to play twice or three times as much as he has.  And he’ll get more guaranteed money ($18 million) than any other player at the position. That’s risky."

He is very clearly looking at this as a “you put in this, you get this” type of philosophy. Prove that you are worth the money, then we will talk. He highlighted it by the lack of playing time and production.

From this standpoint, he is spot on. The very last sentence Mosqueda writes does not bash the Bears for being boneheaded but rather admits “that’s risky”. It is. You know it, I know it, he knows it.

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However, where the Chicago Bears are coming from, they are saying that while yes, it is risky, they are willing to take this risk because the role he fits and the upside he brings.

Burton is a former college quarterback who has hardly played tight end. His transition has been slow with the Eagles, but the roster did have established names around before him. There is a reason he did not get onto the field, and there is a reason to believe that with more playing time, he would have established himself earlier.

If you have read the blog recently you know how Matt Nagy feels about tight ends. He wants to run 13 personnel. He has specific roles for all three tight ends, including Burton as the “U” tight end, a position that Nagy stressed to Ryan Pace over.

The Chicago Bears are betting on what they can do with Burton in his specific role. While I have even noted the production may not be stellar, there is no doubt the playing time will escalate to new heights for Burton.

Burton is used as a mismatch weapon. His versatility and ability to motion anywhere on the field help Trubisky recognize coverages pre-snap.

On top of that, Burton can very easily be cut after his second season. The Chicago Bears have a ton of cap space right now. Their franchise quarterback is on his rookie level deal and is well below the average annual salary of his peers. The Bears know that they have this window to build around their future signal caller.

So, the Burton price tag is a bit hefty, yes. The production is a bit questionable and the playing time has not been there yet.

However, the Bears can afford it, and by his third season can get out of it if it becomes an issue. Burton fits a specific role in an offense he is familiar with, and he is going to be used specifically to make life easier for a young quarterback.

The signing of Burton is truly a risk. While it does not kill the team to cut him in 2020, it would show that there is a reason he was not seeing the field in Philadelphia. It would show as a miss for the Pace and Nagy era.

However, while this is a risky move with the potential to bust, it is tough to argue that it is a boneheaded move considering the process in which the Bears took to make the decision.