It was first reported on Saturday by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network and NFL.com that Morgan Burnett, the veteran safety the Steelers signed last March, wants released from his three-year deal in time to shop around for another team in free agency this March.
“Spoke with #Steelers S Morgan Burnett, who tells me he wants released from his deal before free agency. During his time in Pittsburgh, he felt he played out of position as a dime LB. Burnett, with 2 yrs left on his contract, wants a new start & a chance to play safety again.”
That Tweet from Rapoport obviously means his source isn’t a Steelers insider or just an anonymous source. It’s Burnett, himself, which means the report is legit.
- Does this mean the Steelers will grant Burnett his wish?
It’s easy to see where the veteran safety is coming from, especially after Pittsburgh unexpectedly drafted Terrell Edmunds, also a safety, in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft just weeks after Burnett was brought into the mix. However, Burnett, who just turned 30 on January 13, certainly didn’t help his cause for playing-time, missing five games due to injury during the regular season–including Week 1 vs. Cleveland.
- Burnett, a strong safety by trade, wants to find a team where he can play the role that best suits him.
Burnett seemed destined for the strong safety position last year, which ultimately led to Sean Davis, in his third season out of Maryland, switching to free safety, following the release of Mike Mitchell last spring.
Seth Roberts smokes Terrell Edmunds & Morgan Burnett. Photo Credit: Tony Avelar, Raiders.com
But following the drafting of Edmunds, the Steelers made no secret of their plans to utilize their safeties more in dime linebacker roles, especially after failing to land one of the young, stud inside linebackers who could have taken the place of Ryan Shazier after Shazier suffered a catastrophic spinal injury near the end of the 2017 campaign.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by releasing Burnett, who signed a three-year, $14.3 million deal, the Steelers would free up over $3 million in cap space, while also taking a $2.8 million hit in dead cap money.
To his credit, Edmunds did start 15 games in his rookie season, and while he did appear to struggle a ton and was mostly unspectacular, it’s hard to envision the Steelers holding him out of the lineup in 2019 in favor of a veteran who also made little impact in 2018.
Therefore, it’s easy to envision the Steelers granting Burnett his wish of being released.
