The Bears' Tight End Situation is Beyond Laughable and the Financials Are Even Worse

The Baltimore Ravens have long been known for their infatuation with the tight end position, but at least they've used their plethora of position players properly. The Chicago Bears, on the other hand, haven't been able to do that. Instead, they threw a bunch of bandaids on their "wound," hoping that something might work.

Just when you thought the Bears' tight end situation couldn't get any worse, the realization hits you that that they've invested $24.1 million into the position this year.

I'm sorry...you can do that?

Chicago general manager Ryan Pace thought he'd found his tight end of the future in Trey Burton after the athletic pass-catcher won Super Bowl LII with the Philadelphia Eagles. But after two years of underperforming, the Bears cut ties with Burton, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts. Even so, the Bears are still paying Burton $3.1 million for the year.

To replace him, Pace signed former Green Bay Packers tight end Jimmy Graham, who is on the downside of his career. As if the signing wasn't bad enough, the Bears gave Graham a no-trade clause! Rest assured that no other team in the league was going to give him that incentive.

With the addition of Graham, Chicago had seven tight ends on the roster. But with their first pick of the NFL Draft, the Bears took Cole Kmet out of Notre Dame. In hindsight, the signing of Graham was a complete waste of cap space. We can almost guarantee that Kmet will be Chicago's starting tight end over his eight counterparts in 2020.

If this bold strategy happens to pay off for the Bears, then we'll be the first to eat crow, but we highly doubt there will be success.