Bears haven’t been able to find their own Travis Kelce

Matt Nagy was spoiled.

In his two years as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, he deployed the best tight end this side of an aging Rob Gronkowski. Travis Kelce led all tight ends in receiving yards in 2016 and in catches in 2017.

When Nagy was named the Bears’ coach last year, he set about finding his own Kelce. Signed to a pricey contract in March 2018, Trey Burton was solid in his first year with the Bears, catching 76 passes for 569 yards, but missed the playoff game against the Eagles with a groin injury that never truly healed this season.

General manager Ryan Pace could blame Burton’s mysterious injury for the Bears’ ineptitude at the position this season — but he can’t do it back-to-back years. He must put tight end atop his list of offseason fixes, and it must be with one underlying presumption: The Bears can’t count on Burton to be healthy enough to repeat his 2018 season.

As it is, the Bears look lost at the most important pass-catching cog in Nagy’s offense. Pace’s gamble on Division II tight end Adam Shaheen in the second round of the 2017 draft busted in a big way. He had 26 catches over three years before going on injured reserve with a foot injury and isn’t guaranteed to see a fourth season in navy and orange. Ben Braunecker is on IR, too, but with a concussion.

The Bears’ two remaining healthy pass-catching tight ends, Jesper Horsted and J.P. Holtz, have combined for 13 catches for 145 yards all season. Kelce had 11 catches for 142 yards last Sunday alone — in the snow.

Which is to say that, Sunday night against the Chiefs, Bears fans should diversify their envy instead of aiming it solely at Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“[Kelce is] very friendly to a quarterback,” Nagy said. “All over the field. You can be backed up at your 5-yard line. It can be in the red zone. He’s a mismatch in a lot of ways. You got guys that are too small. You got guys that are too slow.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid described Kelce similarly.

“[The tight end] is the most friendly guy to the quarterback because he’s normally the closest receiver to the quarterback, right?” Reid said. “So it’s great to have one.

“Travis is one of those unique players. He’s a good football player — a great football player.”

The most distressing part about the Bears’ tight end situation is the negative effect it had on quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s development. A competent tight end should be his best friend. Instead, he’s throwing to Horsted, who a year ago was a Princeton wide receiver, and Holtz, whom the Bears snatched off the waiver wire in September.

Then there’s Kelce, whose 86 catches are tied for sixth-most in the NFL and 1,131 receiving yards rank seventh. He leads all tight ends in both categories.

Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano listed no fewer than 10 qualities to describe Kelce — he’s “a big target,” “crafty,” “smart,’’ “physical,” “a top competitor,” “has got great synergy with the quarterback,” “understands coverage,” “understands leverage,” “finds open zones” and “bodies you if you’re playing man on him.”

When they go hunting this offseason, the Bears might settle for a tight end who checks half those boxes.

“We really feel like he’s the catalyst,” Pagano said. “He’s kind of like the guy that makes that thing go, and they’ve got a bunch of those guys in that offense that make that thing go and a bunch of guys we’ve got to tend to.

“It’s a shame we can’t play with 12 or 13. We’re going to have to do it with 11. We’ll have our hands full.”