The Trey Burton experiment lasted just two seasons before the Chicago Bears decided to part ways with the maligned tight end on Friday.

While Burton’s time in Chicago got off to an encouraging start in 2018, where he had a career year — 54 catches for 569 receiving yards and six touchdowns — his inability to stay on the field proved to be his downfall. In 2019, Burton only played in eight games, tallying 14 catches for 84 yards, before landing on injured reserve.

Following the collective failure of Chicago’s tight ends last season, the position has been a contention of focus for general manager Ryan Pace. The Bears signed veteran Jimmy Graham to a two-year deal, but he’s not a magic cure-all. Not to mention, Graham isn’t the same player he was when he thrived with the Saints and Seahawks.

Perhaps the Bears should look to bring in another promising, younger tight end that could help jumpstart Chicago’s offense.

There are rumors that Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard is on the trade block, and Chicago shouldn’t hesitate to try and make a deal happen, should that be the case.

Howard is coming off a down season in 2019 — 34 catches for 459 yards, one touchdown. But Howard’s down year was still more productive, in yardage, than all of Chicago’s tight ends combined in 2019.

Howard, a former first-round pick in the NFL Draft, positioned himself to become one of the league’s standout tight ends in his second season. But his breakout year was cut short due to injury, which caused him to miss the final six games. It also didn’t help that, when Howard returned for his third year in 2019, Tampa Bay brought in Bruce Arians, someone who’s not known for utilizing tight ends as much as receivers.

It’s not a question of whether or not Howard has the talent to excel as a “move” tight end in this league. He just needs to find the right place. While Chicago was one of the worst in tight end production a season ago, they didn’t exactly have the talent of an O.J. Howard in that offense. It also didn’t help that, as a whole, the Bears offense struggled last season.

The only question is cost. Pace has a penchant for trading draft capital for his guys, but at the right price this would be a good deal for the Bears. But Chicago shouldn’t offer more than a Day 3 pick for Howard’s services.

If the Bears can’t trade for Howard, it makes sense for them to target a tight end in the NFL Draft next week. While this is a weak class of tight ends, Chicago would have their pick of some talented prospects, including Cole Kmet and Brycen Hopkins.