Todd Monken‘s three Ravens offenses involved a fullback, with the former Baltimore OC overseeing Patrick Ricard during that span. The new Browns HC will add a veteran at the niche position ahead of OTAs.
Michael Burton spent the past three years of his lengthy career in Denver, but TheLandonDemand.com’s Tony Grossi notes he is signing with Cleveland. Burton, 34, missed all of last season due to a hamstring injury.
The Browns will be Burton’s seventh NFL team. Prior to Denver, he stopped through Detroit, Chicago, Washington, New Orleans and Kansas City. While he has cleared 20% usage on offense in just two seasons — as fullbacks have largely been phased out of NFL offenses — the Rutgers product has been a special teams regular as well.
Cleveland added two tight ends in the draft — Cincinnati’s Joe Royer and BYU’s Carsen Ryan — but Burton will be the team’s first true fullback addition this offseason. The Browns return 2025 draftees Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson; the team lost Jerome Ford in free agency (to Washington).
Earlier this offseason, a report revealed the Browns tried to sign Ricard in their search for a fullback. But Ricard opted to be part of a Baltimore-to-New York pipeline, following John Harbaugh to the Giants. Ricard was used far more than Burton offensively, seeing 39-64% snap shares on offense over the past six seasons. Burton moved between the Broncos’ practice squad and active roster during his second stint under Sean Payton and spent all of last season on IR, but it looks like he will have a bounce-back opportunity in one of the few offenses where a fullback sees regular usage.
These are the signings to pay attention to because teams who utilize fullbacks often have the strongest run game no matter who runs behind the fullback.
This will help out a guy like Sampson tremendously and probably help Judkins as well even though he’s big and strong enough to not really need a fullback.
IIRC, Burton is also a solid pass catcher out of the backfield.