The Chicago Bears were one of 10 teams last week to put a waiver claim in on third-year tight end Tim Wright, league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Field Yates.
The NFL awarded Wright to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have the first priority in waiver claims.
Wright caught a combined 80 passes for 830 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first two seasons in the league.
Although unsuccessful, the Bears’ pursuit of Wright is noteworthy because of the on-going drama involving starting tight end Martellus Bennett.
Unhappy with the two years left on his current contract, Bennett skipped the club’s entire voluntary offseason program in protest. Bennett is scheduled to earn a 2015 base salary of $4.9 million -- and $5.085 million in 2016.
Bears head coach John Fox said last week that he isn’t sure if Bennett plans to attend mandatory minicamp, which begins on Tuesday. The Bears can fine Bennett for each of the three minicamp practices he misses.
“Don’t know [if he’ll be here],” Fox said. “Again, it’s different implications on mandatory minicamp. But we’ll wait and see.”
With Bennett out of the picture at organized team activities, the Bears used the opportunity to further evaluate the backup tight ends on their roster, including Dante Rosario, Bear Pascoe and Zach Miller.
