Evidently, Morgan Burnett did not enjoy his first season with the Steelers. The veteran safety wants the team to release him before the start of free agency, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Pittsburgh signed Burnett to a three-year, $14.35MM contract early in free agency last year, well before most other safeties of his ilk agreed to deals.
The Steelers’ frequent usage of Burnett as a dime linebacker did not sit well with the longtime Packers safety, with the 30-year-old defender seeking a team that will use him as a pure safety. Burnett started just two of the 11 games he played with the Steelers. He started every game he played as a Packer.
Burnett’s usage (390 snaps) lagged well behind younger Steeler safeties Sean Davis (981 snaps) and first-round pick Terrell Edmunds (968). It would not be a surprise to see the Steelers cut bait on Burnett, but the move will bring a slight cost. It would tag the Steelers with $2.8MM in dead money and save them $3.63MM against the cap if they grant Burnett’s request.
The Steelers brought in Burnett to play closer to the line of scrimmage, but he does not appear to be comfortable in this role. Burnett also missed five games due to injury.
Please do. He was not good.
Any chance GB looks at him in FA, if he gets released?
All the Steelers fans saying they got a bargain, just like all the Skins fans saying they “fleeced” the Packers. There is a reason these guys were no longer welcome in GB.
Just like Casey Heyward and Damarious Randall?
Hayward was always a good player just couldn’t stay healthy. Randall was a safety that for some reason was played at corner, Burnett is a good Strong safety not much of a CF type, Clinton-Dix has an issue with his eyes being fixed on the QB and not what is happening around him.
Didn’t say that the Packers make every right move. Just laughing at hoe teams think every player the get just needs a “change of scenery” to be a Pro Bowler. As for Randall, wait until the big pressure moment comes and he’ll shrink like he did every time in GB.
JB19 comment shows you how little fans of other teams know about the teams they like to hate.
Well…GB kind of sucked this year.
What time are the Steelers playing tomorrow?
Someone said the basketball courts by the playground around noon.
and Pittsburgh didn’t make the postseason in the worst division with rookie qb’s playing in Baltimore and Cleveland and Cincinnati playing Jeff Driskel!
Yet, they still won 9 games. Such a terrible season
Patriots play in a much worse division, right? Says no one ever
By all means please do.
There goes the rat to his buddy James Jones in the media. Free up more money for free agency.
Keep all the other guys that rat to the other reporters, or just get rid of the one that leak info that you don’t like? Steeler fans are embarrassing
This guy was awful. Like worse than Mike Mitchell awful. I’m pretty sure he was getting his wish regardless.
When the Steelers initially signed Burnett, I was happy and thought they’d gotten a quality player at a bargain. He just never fit properly with what the Steelers wanted to do. Seemed like he missed more time than he played and when he did play didn’t seem to be too effective. This just makes safety a bit more of a priority in the draft/free agency.
He knew he was getting released anyway so this is like quitting before being fired. Sat on the shelf through camp and part of the season. He was about as helpful as Bell was to the Steelers last season.
I think he sees the writing on the wall of a potential release and is just asking for it to make himself look good. Davis and Edmunds were always the future.
could be internal culture of great players: james harrison, antonio brown, etc
Burnett is delusional if he thinks anyone will link him to the pro bowlers that were unhappy in Pittsburgh. An early release gives him a chance to crack an AAF roster.
Yeah cause players don’t like collecting paychecks they never earned with the team
Burnett wasn’t that great. I’m perfectly happy with cutting him loose and taking the cap savings. Maybe they’ll invest it into a legitimate corner to pair with Haden (wishful thinking)
Might as well release Artie Burns too
They should draft a corner in first… could stabilize the secondary for a half decade.
What good is it having good corners when safeties play 20yds from scrimmage and the defense gets pounded down the middle every year?steelrrs defense is the definition of insanity
tsolid – I agree, but their corner play last year was also a problem. Burns is horrible, Sensabaugh is a stretch as a starter and their other picks in recent years have been busts so far.
Bears could be in the market for a safety if Adrian Amos gets paid big elsewhere. I wonder if sending Cody Parkey and/or Deon Bush back would be workable.