The Green Bay Packers seemingly didn’t make much of an effort to re-sign safety Morgan Burnett. Now he’ll be moving on.
Burnett is signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Source tells me #Packers FA Safety Morgan Burnett is headed to the #Steelers Flying out tomorrow morning to complete the deal @nflnetwork @NFL
— James Jones (@89JonesNTAF) March 20, 2018
Burnett spent his first eight seasons with the Packers. He never really became that elite-level safety the Packers hoped he would. However, Burnett’s leadership and steady play were certainly valuable.
The defense didn’t function as well without Burnett on the field in 2017. The injury factor surely played into the Packers decision-making on this one, though.
Burnett missed four games in 2017. He hasn’t played in a full 16 since 2012.
It now appears the Packers are ready to turn the position over to Josh Jones, who they drafted in the second round last year. Jones actually recorded more tackles than Burnett in 2017. Burnett finished with 68 and Jones had 71. Jones also one-upped Burnett in interceptions — one to none.
That isn’t to say Jones outplayed Burnett. Like most rookies, Jones was inconsistent and not terribly reliable. However, the team is obviously expecting him to make a jump in his second season.
It’s interesting that the Packers went into the offseason with their secondary as a glaring weakness. From there, they just let it get weaker after trading Damarious Randall and now losing Burnett in free agency.