The Bears told rival clubs at the scouting combine earlier this year that if they selected a tight end in the draft, they could be willing to deal veteran tight end Zach Miller, Michael Lombardi reported on The Ringer NFL Show (SoundCloud link).
Chicago did indeed draft a tight end, picking up Ashland’s Adam Shaheen in the second round. Additionally, the Bears signed free agent tight end Dion Sims to a three-year, $18MM deal this offseason that included $6MM in guaranteed money. Other tight ends on Chicago’s roster include Daniel Brown, Ben Braunecker, and MyCole Pruitt.
Miller, 32, finished the 2016 campaign on injured reserve after suffering a broken foot in Week 11. In only 10 games, however, Miller had already surpassed his 2015 reception and yardage totals while scoring four touchdowns. In his two seasons with the Bears, Miller has averaged 52 catches for 592 yards and four touchdowns on a per 16-game rate.
Entering the final year of his contract, Miller is due a $1MM base salary in 2017. Any club that acquires Miller would be responsible for that figure, as well as $1MM in per-game roster bonuses. The Bears, meanwhile, would incur $500K in dead money if they trade Miller.
Why would anyone give the Bears anything for a 32 year old TE finished the season on IR.
He will probably go to the Patriots (as Bears trade with them frequently) and have an All Pro Season.
Pace is just looking for ways to minimize his draft damage by paying an exhorbiant price to pick Trub at #2. While he claims teams were willing to trade up not one GM has backed that claim & they don’t have anything at stake to do so now.