Just like that, the Chicago Bears tight end room is shaken up once again. Not too long ago, the Chicago Bears signed Jake Butt to the roster and I thought if he was able to remain healthy he’d have a very good chance of being the fourth tight end on the Chicago Bears 2021 roster. Instead, it was reported that Jake Butt has retired from the NFL as of today.
Bears TE Jake Butt has retired.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 28, 2021
Jake Butt has suffered from some horrible injury luck throughout his career. He played his college games at the University of Michigan and was a fifth-round draft pick by the Denver Broncos in 2017.
Chicago Bears tight end Jake Butt has dealt with injuries his entire career
Unfortunately for Butt, he has suffered three torn ACL injuries stemming back to his first one in high school and then a second tear coming in the Bowl game prior to him leaving for the NFL. The Broncos drafted him in 2017 knowing he would miss most, if not all, of his rookie season. In 2018, Jake Butt played in three games before suffering his third ACL tear. This ACL tear cost him the rest of his 2018 season and all of his 2019 season.
Prior to the injury in 2018, Butt looked decent catching eight of 13 targets ove his three games for 85 yards. He will retire without ever reaching the end zone in his career. 2020 was plagued with more injuries as he only played in five games and dealt with a hamstring injury that eventually put him on injured reserve.
The Chicago Bears signed Jake Butt on June 21, 2021 to a one-year contract worth $850,000. As I said, I had him beating out J.P. Holtz for the final tight end spot in 2021. This was obviously based on his ability to remain healthy. As they say, the best ability is availability. Well, without knowing the reason for his decision to retire, we can only assum at this point it was another health related issue. Whether he hurt his knee again or if he just never felt 100 percent, we will have to wait to find out.
Fortunately for the Chicago Bears, the team was able to sign another former fifth-round tight end in Jesse James. James was an easy choice as the third tight end on the depth chart and would likely take over the role Demetrius Harris plalyed in 2020. Seeing a player make the NFL to only be on injured the entire time is not new to the Chicago Bears. It is sad to see Jake Butt never get a chance to prove himself here in Chicago, but we wish him the best of luck in his future.