Matt Nagy ‘fired up’ after Bears land top free-agent targets for offense

ORLANDO, Fla. — Working hand-in-hand with a general manager on personnel decisions is something new for new Bears coach Matt Nagy. But consider him “fired up” after his first run at free agency at GM Ryan Pace’s side.

Receiver Allen Robinson and tight end Trey Burton were identified as top targets in free agency — great fits for Nagy’s offense and philosophies — and the Bears signed both players.

“I was fired up,” Nagy said Tuesday during the NFL coaches breakfast at the NFL’s annual meetings. “You have your list of guys on the board and you talk through the what if’s. Like what if we get these guys, what if we get these guys, etc.

“To [the personnel department’s] credit for being able to get it done, we feel really good about it. Now, it’s our job as coaches to be able to make them fit into what we do and make it go. We’ve had a good start. That part’s exciting.”

Making his first comments about the Bears’ signings, here’s what Nagy said about Robinson, Burton and receiver Taylor Gabriel, three very important players for his offense:

On Robinson, who still is rehabbing from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee :

“He’s a guy that presents a lot of problems to defensive backs just because of his ability with his size. But he’s a good route-runner. He’s able to, if you have a smaller ‘DB’ on him, he can beat you up with his size. A bigger ‘DB,’ he can beat you up with his route running. The guy’s got experience. He’s produced. He’s put up numbers, and he’s now worked to put himself in an opportunity to be a free agent, and we were a team that was a position we wanted to strengthen, so that was who we went after.”

On Burton, who will fill the “U” tight end role in Nagy’s offense :

“You see with Trey the last couple years now, again, he’s not a guy who had 50, 60 or 70 catches. But he fits into what we do. So at that position to have a guy where you feel confident where you know, No. 1, he knows this offense. He can walk right on into this thing and understand how we call a certain play. He knows it inside-out. It’s what he did.

“[Eagles coach Doug Pederson] and I being together in Kansas City, Doug has taken that to Philadelphia now, and the verbiage and the terminology is the same. So you see that, and he was their second, sometimes third, tight end in Philadelphia. Well, now we’re going to put him in a role where those numbers are going to be able to jump up. And that’s on us to be able to do that.”

On Gabriel, who will fill the “Zebra” role in Nagy’s offense :

“He’s a good fit. I was really excited once he got in, and we started seeing who he was as a person and his energetic personality, but then on tape his personality fits the way he plays. So the things we do with getting guys the ball out quick, [run-pass option] stuff, but getting him the ball, you see what he can do with screens. He can catch the ball behind the line of scrimmage and take it for a touchdown really on any given play.

“Now a lot of that goes with regards to blocking that goes on with wide receivers and that, but he’s not just that ‘gadget’ guy. He can be a true receiver and really do well and excel, and he’s proven that.”