With veterans reporting to Chicago Bears training camp on Tuesday, the top position battles to keep an eye on will also naturally ramp up. A sneaky one is the battle for the No. 3/slot wide receiver role, with second-round rookie Luther Burden the easy favorite since the moment he was drafted.
Burden then missed all of OTAs and rookie minicamp with what head coach Ben Johnson called a soft tissue injury. Caution is the word when it comes to injuries like that during May and June, and even to some degree in training camp, if/when they occur. Still, there's no getting around how Burden missed a lot of valuable on-field work before training camp, and the door is open for competition.
Bears free agent signing could become a tradeable asset before Week 1
Amid all the more notable moves this offseason, it was easy to miss the Bears signing veteran wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus to a one-year deal. With Burden not on the practice field during OTAs, Clay Harbor of CHSN highlighted what Zaccheaus brings to the table.
'This is a bigger competition than people think...You can trust him, but he’s extremely quick", Harbor said. "You’re obviously going to have a number of packages for Luther Burden — but I think after watching Zaccheaus, he has a number of packages for himself, as well. He’s extremely quick. He’s a good blocker. He’s catching everything. He’s just this guy that’s crafty, quick, will do whatever you want him to do to help the team win the game. Like, dirty stuff, but also, you saw him get 500 yards last year, 45 catches with the team that made the NFC Championship Game. That counts for something.”
The numbers Harbor cited from last year with Washington (45 receptions for 506 yards) were career-highs for Zaccheaus. He also has some contract incentives that only really become viable to reach if he wins the No. 3 wide receiver job, so he will be plenty motivated to beat out an anointed rookie.
But if Zaccheaus falls behind Burden in the competition during training camp, he would then be lined up to be the Bears' No. 4 wide receiver. His career resume that shows limited special teams contributions, so how he would add value to the roster would become a question.
With that in mind, Matthew Schmidt of SI.com has offered the idea Zaccheus could be traded before playing a regular season snap for the Bears. The Cleveland Browns are a team Schmidt mentioned as a potential suitor, but the same idea could certainly apply to other teams during training camp and once preseason games get going.
Read more: Biggest position battle at Bears training camp is crystal clear
Zaccheaus is obviously not a star, but he is a solid WR3/WR4 type teams don't mind having around. If things go a certain way in the coming weeks, the Bears could have a very tradeable asset as other teams seek viable wide receiver depth.