Chicago Bears (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears need to improve their tight end room and a good one may have just become available.
It’s no secret that the Chicago Bears will be looking to upgrade at the tight end position, and acquiring Hayden Hurst would be a home run. If he is truly available as a recent report suggests, then general manager Ryan Pace must pick up the phone and see what it would cost.
You may have missed the report yesterday, as it got lost in the shuffle of the first day of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Most of the focus was on arm length, hand size, height, and weight, but Bears fans may have noticed a tweet suggesting the Baltimore Ravens tight end could be on the move.
A sports columnist with the Florida Times-Union named Eugene Frenette dropped an interesting tweet that did not seem to get picked up or otherwise gain traction.
The original tweet suggested both the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars were exploring a trade for the former first-round pick out of the University of South Carolina. As previously mentioned, the story did not seem to get picked up and as of yet, has not been independently verified by any of the national reporters (outside of WEEI in Boston), however, the tweet suggests Frenette has had previous conversations with Hurst.
If this is true, and Hurst is available, then the Bears should be willing to give up one of their second-round picks to make it happen.
First, it’s so difficult for a rookie tight end to make an impact, so if the team is expecting to make significant improvements to the position via the draft, it likely won’t have an effect next year. Second, the Bears could get a first-round talent, with two years of NFL experience with a second-round pick. That alone should be a no-brainer.
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In 2018 (his rookie year) he played in only 12 games, recording a mere 163 yards on 13 catches. However, it was an invaluable experience that helped him more than double those outputs in year two with 30 receptions and 349 receiving yards.
He appears to be getting better each year and could be up for a breakout year in 2020. Because he was drafted in 2018, he is still on his rookie contract. This is great, in that it would allow the Bears to obtain a high quality experienced tight end for an incredibly affordable price — at least in terms of dollars. The downside to all of this is that it remains to be seen whether the Ravens would part with him for just a second-round pick. In any event, Pace will never know unless he picks up the phone.