Philadelphia Eagles: 3 free agents worth signing post-draft

Trey Burton is the best possible free agent left for the Philadelphia Eagles.

If there’s just one more free agent the Philadelphia Eagles sign in the lead up to the 2021 NFL season, it has to be Jason Peters Trey Burton.

A UDFA signing during the Chip Kelly-era, Burton played tight end, wide receiver, fullback, running back, and special teams during his four-year tenure with the Eagles and will forever be remembered as one of the “good guys” who played the game the right way whenever he was afforded a chance to take the field.

Oh yeah, and he was a part of the most famous play in Philadelphia sports history, the “Philly Special” how ever could I have forgotten?

While that single, incredibly consequential play will forever lockdown Burton’s place in sports history, especially in the City of Brotherly Love, some may not know that the former Florida Gator has remained gainfully employed in the NFL since his contract expired back in 2018, playing for the Chicago Bears from 2018-19, and the Indianapolis Colts in 2020.

Do you know who else was with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020? Yeah, that would be Nick Sirianni, who now has a new job in our fair city.

Though the Philadelphia Eagles still technically have Zach Ertz under contract, which is a rather confusing development no matter how you slice it, few expect the college Cardinal to still be here when the summer turns into the fall, let alone when camp opens up in a few short months.

If that happens, Burton is an ideal second tight end to play alongside and in place of Dallas Goedert in a role similar to Richard Rodgers in 2020.

Heck, the Eagles could even bring back Burton and Rodgers and bring back their old three-headed monster from the Kelly days pre-Brent Celek’s retirement.

Burton can serve as a safety blanket for Jalen Hurts on offense, as a schematic cheat sheet for teammates attempting to learn the new verbiage of a new offensive system, and a plus-locker room presence who knows what it takes to put in the work and win a championship for it.

Between you and me, there isn’t a single downside to signing back Burton even if Ertz is retained for some crazy reason, which is probably why it won’t happen, and the Birds will instead rely on a new UDFA like Jack Stoll or one of their former quarterbacks like Tyree Jackson.

Sometimes, a team and a free agent are just linked for one reason or another. Nickell Robey-Coleman made too much sense in 2020, and that didn’t work out very well. Re-signing Nick Foles to back up Carson Wentz made a ton of sense in 2017, and that one worked out pretty darn well for everyone involved. While I personally don’t think bringing back Trey Burton would fall into the latter category, his presence on the roster would be all-upside for the Philadelphia Eagles, which, again, is why it probably won’t happen.