Is Burton worth the money?

[Runruffshod75]

I don't think any FA's, or very few are worth what they get, but that's the nature of the beast. Ya have to pay great player money to get a good player in FA. He, like most FA's likely wont play to the amount of money he was paid, but as long as his production, as limited as it could end up being, comes at key moments that result being key factors to this team reaching & even having success in the postseason, then it would end up as money well spent in my eyes.

 

[napo55]

The money could have been used better. How about using only one million of it to pay the extra million to keep Meredith, a player with more receiving yards in just one season than Burton has in his entire career?

 

[bearmick]

The "U" TE is probably the most important position in Nagy's offense other than QB. Yes, we paid a lot, but he will be an integral part of the new offense. The Bears can get out of the contract after two years. It's always a risk in FA'cy, but Nagy and Pace clearly targeted this player as an important part of the offense.

I don't think I'll ever get to say this enough, but people need to remember that this is not going to be a photocopy of Andy Reid's offense in KC. Obviously it will be influenced by that, but it will be Nagy's own playbook with plenty of input from Helfrich. It seems like almost everyone is assuming that he's just going to run the KC offense in Chicago. That won't be the case.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

The money could have been used better. How about using only one million of it to pay the extra million to keep Meredith, a player with more receiving yards in just one season than Burton has in his entire career?

It's amazing to me how people on this board are so triggered by letting a player with one season of solid production coming off an ACL tear go to another team. Especially after Pace re-tooled the WR corps with Robinson/Gabriel/Miller.

 

[bearmick]

It's amazing to me how people on this board are so triggered by letting a player with one season of solid production coming off an ACL tear go to another team. Especially after Pace re-tooled the WR corps with Robinson/Gabriel/Miller.

With Gabriel as the logical deep threat, Meredith would have likely been the #4 WR in the group, #5 if Kevin White doesn't break again. I have no idea why people are acting like we let some stud go.

 

[WindyCity]

With Gabriel as the logical deep threat, Meredith would have likely been the #4 WR in the group, #5 if Kevin White doesn't break again. I have no idea why people are acting like we let some stud go.

This is a good point.

Robinson made Meredith redundant.

They clearly only want bigger outside the number guy. They have shown a preference for smaller, speedier guys that they can move inside and outside when they want to. The WR group is far more diverse than we have seen in the past.

 

[dabears70]

It's amazing to me how people on this board are so triggered by letting a player with one season of solid production coming off an ACL tear go to another team. Especially after Pace re-tooled the WR corps with Robinson/Gabriel/Miller.

ACL and MCL...just sayin....:hawked:

 

[Hammer]

Not sure you can count on Gabriel as clear cut #2 (he's another overpaid FA, just #4 WR gimmick/deep threat type so far in his career), but there are other guys who can battle for the spot (who knows, maybe White actually has decent season, Cohen as a wideout, Wims, dreaded Bellamy, etc.).

I think #1 WR (Robinson, if he's close to 100% by September) and slot (Miller, Cohen in some situations) are already locked.

 

[WindyCity]

Not sure you can count on Gabriel as clear cut #2 (he's another overpaid FA, just #4 WR gimmick/deep threat type so far in his career), but there are other guys who can battle for the spot (who knows, maybe White actually has decent season, Cohen as a wideout, Wims, dreaded Bellamy, etc.).

I think #1 WR (Robinson, if he's at 100% by September) and slot (Miller) are already locked.

I do not think they are counting on him to be a#2.

They are paying him to be a #3.

Gabriel is here to be a deep threat, which means he does not need to catch 75 passes to earn his money and be worth it.

 

[Hammer]

Yeah, plus there might be some 2 WR (Robinson, Miller) - 2 TE (Burton, Shaheen) sets in the mix, or maybe 2 WR - TE plus Cohen sets.

In the end, the key to productive passing offense will probably be Robinson, can he produce as a true #1 WR only a year after torn ACL, and attract majority of attention from opposing DBs (which would then free up space for other receivers, be that WRs, TEs or RBs).

 

[WindyCity]

I am also not sure I agree with Gabriel being a gimmick player.

The last 2 season he has caught 67.5% of his passes, he just gets 50 targets as the #3 in that offense. for about 14 YPC.

If he was a deep gimmick he would have a much lower catch % and a higher YPC.

 

[Hammer]

Yeah, it's more that his usage rate wasn't as high last year, as opposed to season when Falcons had Shanahan as their OC.
If Nagy can use him in similar fashion, then he'll definitely be a valuable member of WR unit.

 

[napo55]

It's amazing to me how people on this board are so triggered by letting a player with one season of solid production coming off an ACL tear go to another team. Especially after Pace re-tooled the WR corps with Robinson/Gabriel/Miller.

You just don't know how Robinson will recover from his ACL, so retaining an ascending young WR (also recovering from knee surgery) is a smart move to CYA. Plus Gabriel has never been that productive and Miller is a rookie. Amazing to me that folks can't understand that Meredith could have been retained for a fraction of the money used on less productive players like Burton and Gabriel.

 

[BearFanJohn]

I will let you know January 2019

Thank-you and exactly!

 

[WindyCity]

You just don't know how Robinson will recover from his ACL, so retaining an ascending young WR (also recovering from knee surgery) is a smart move to CYA. Plus Gabriel has never been that productive and Miller is a rookie. Amazing to me that folks can't understand that Meredith could have been retained for a fraction of the money used on less productive players like Burton and Gabriel.

We understand.

But Burton and Gabriel both offer unique and niche skill sets that Meredith does not. Financially, they should have kept him. Stylistically I think it may be a different argument.

 

[playthrough2001]

You just don't know how Robinson will recover from his ACL, so retaining an ascending young WR (also recovering from knee surgery) is a smart move to CYA. Plus Gabriel has never been that productive and Miller is a rookie. Amazing to me that folks can't understand that Meredith could have been retained for a fraction of the money used on less productive players like Burton and Gabriel.

So your idea to "CYA" is keeping another guy coming off a serious knee injury too? I'd rather chance the knee with the better player (Robinson) and CYA with Gabriel, Burton, Miller, Wims, Fowler and Brown. All healthy and practicing players... Cohen, Shaheen, Sims, Brown and possibly Nall are going to be involved too. Cohen will get plenty of reps as a WR.

 

[napo55]

We understand.

But Burton and Gabriel both offer unique and niche skill sets that Meredith does not. Financially, they should have kept him. Stylistically I think it may be a different argument.

Making questionable personnel decisions because a player doesn't fit a coach''s scheme has never been a valid philosophy. (Greg Olsen) Good coaches find a way to integrate good players into their plan. I like the potential of Burton and Gabriel. My point is: keeping Meredith and signing them was never mutually exclusive.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Making questionable personnel decisions because a player doesn't fit a coach''s scheme has never been a valid philosophy. (Greg Olsen) Good coaches find a way to integrate good players into their plan. I like the potential of Burton and Gabriel. My point is: keeping Meredith and signing them was never mutually exclusive.

You act like Cam is a super star stud WR ready to take the league by storm. Apparently Nagy/Pace did not place that much value on what Cam brought to the table. He is at best a WR2 in the NFL and more realistically a WR3 with some upside. There are only so many touches to go around and I'm sure the Bears looked at how Cam would be used in the offense and decided it wasn't a great fit.

 

[JesusHalasChrist]

Jerry Rice is a better comp for Meredith than Greg Olsen.

 

[botfly10]

I don't think any FA's, or very few are worth what they get, but that's the nature of the beast. Ya have to pay great player money to get a good player in FA. He, like most FA's likely wont play to the amount of money he was paid, but as long as his production, as limited as it could end up being, comes at key moments that result being key factors to this team reaching & even having success in the postseason, then it would end up as money well spent in my eyes.

Who was that white rapper dude that used to post on cbmb?