Bears rookie WR Luther Burden III: Teams that passed on me gotta pay

Plenty of NFL players have used perceived draft day slides as motivation when they get into the league and Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III is jumping into that ring.

Burden was the 39th player selected in April after a run at Missouri that ended with back-to-back All-SEC selections. He was also the sixth wide receiver off the board and Burden made it clear that he thinks teams erred with how they viewed him heading into the draft.

“No, that’s staying with me forever,” Burden said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. “Everybody who passed up on me gotta pay.”

Burden might not be thrilled with when his name was called, but he appears to be in a spot that offers him a good chance to dispel any doubts. He’ll play with 2024 first overall pick Caleb Williams in an offense put together by head coach Ben Johnson and Johnson’s history running the offense in Detroit suggests he’ll find ways to get the most out of Burden.