Strong safety Morgan Burnett has revealed the reason why he signed with the Cleveland Browns.
According to CBS Sports' “The Jim Rome Show” (via 247Sports.com's Josh Edwards), Burnett's familiarity with many former Green Bay Packers personnel lured him to Northeast Ohio. Burnett played eight seasons in Green Bay.
“Of course it was just familiar faces that I was used to working with in Green Bay. You just see all the talent that they have. You knew the excitement coming around them.
Just to have the opportunity to sign a guy like myself going into my 10th year, I was very excited about it. It was a smooth transition for me, especially being able to have worked with some of the guys that are here back in Green Bay. It just felt like family. It felt like home.”
The #Browns are giving S Morgan Burnett a 2-year deal worth a maximum value of almost $9M, source said. He gets nearly $4M fully guaranteed at signing. That indicates they will be counting on the 30-year old.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 5, 2019
Offensive line and associate head coach James Campen, pass game coordinator and secondary coach Joe Whitt, Jr., assistant general manager Eliot Wolf, and vice president of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith all worked with Burnett during his time in Green Bay, per Edwards.
After spending eight seasons with the Packers, Burnett signed a three-year, $14.35 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Burnett appeared in 11 games for the Steelers last season, recording 30 tackles. Pittsburgh released him on April 1.
Burnett told NFL Network (via ESPN's Pat McManamon) he wanted out of Pittsburgh because he's more comfortable playing safety rather than dime linebacker. He agreed to a two-year, $9 million deal with the Browns on April 6.
Morgan Burnett on signing with Cleveland
The Super Bowl-winning safety explains his thought process on signing with the Cleveland Browns. https://t.co/h5iur72J6O
— KFH Radio (@kfhradio) May 15, 2019
Burnett will compete with Eric Murray for Cleveland's starting strong safety position. The Browns previously had Jabrill Peppers, whom they traded to the New York Giants as part of the blockbuster deal for wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in March.
Burnett now considers the Browns as family. With that in mind, he should exceed everybody's expectations. Expect him to play a major role in Cleveland's resurgence in 2019.
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