Trey Burton has found a landing spot after his Bears release. The former Eagles tight end agreed to terms with the Colts on Wednesday, according to his agency (Twitter link).
This will reunite Burton with Frank Reich, who was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator during the tight end’s final years in Philadelphia. This will be a Colts-friendly deal, with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reporting (via Twitter) Burton agreed to a veteran-minimum contract. However, Burton still has $4MM coming to him by virtue of his 2018 Bears pact.
Burton, 28, will not be asked to be Indianapolis’ clear No. 1 tight end the way he was in Chicago. Although the Colts let Eric Ebron defect to the Steelers, they still employ Jack Doyle. Burton will be in position to be an auxiliary weapon for Philip Rivers.
The passer on the Eagles’ “Philly Special” play in Super Bowl LII performed fairly well in 2018, suiting up for 16 games and hauling in a career-high 569 yards and six touchdown receptions. Last season, though, injuries hampered Burton. He only recorded 84 yards in eight games. Burton underwent hernia surgery during the 2019 offseason and went on IR after a calf injury.
The Colts will still head into the draft in need of a T.Y. Hilton complement at wide receiver, but this Burton agreement stands to make tight end a lower priority. Indianapolis also rosters Mo Alie-Cox and ex-Steelers blocking tight end Xavier Grimble.
One of those deals that made too much sense not to happen.
The Bears still have 8 TEs on their roster so let’s not give them too much praise for having sense.
Sure, but I meant the Reich/PHI connection.
To be honest, I thought Frank would be a total bust as a HC but he has proven me wrong.
I think him and Ballard are a good combo. And for all the flaws of Irsay, the guy isn’t afraid to spend money AND he’s fairly hands off. Let’s his guys do their thing.
Made too much sense to sign a TE who was released cause he failed his physical and can’t stay healthy enough to stay on the field. A TE who refused to play against the Eagles in the Playoff game because he was suffering from anxiety over it? Great signing! Especially for a team that doesn’t want to win. Like signing Phillip Rivers. lol
He was not released for failing a physical. It was for performance or lack thereof only.