Morgan Burnett has requested his release from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Steelers are prepared to honor that, informing the safety that they will cut him by April 1. However, before Pittsburgh does that, they will try to see if they can get something for him.
According to Gerry Dulac of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers are trying to trade Burnett before his scheduled release date, a task that seems nearly impossible at this point.
Why? Well, first of all, if a team does acquire Burnett via trade, it would have to pay the rest of his contract, which was a three-year, $14.35 million deal he signed last March. Second, why would any club give up an asset for Burnett if it can just sign him outright in about a week-and-a-half?
Burnett is coming off of a 2018 campaign in which he played just 11 games, finishing with 30 tackles and six passes defended.
The 30-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Georgia Tech, was originally selected by the Green Bay Packers in the third round (71st pick overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.
He appeared in just four contests during his rookie season due to injury, registering 14 tackles and an interception. From that point on, Burnett went on to become a tackling machine for the Packers, racking up over 100 tackles in four straight years. His best season came in 2014, when he registered 143 tackles, 1.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a couple of fumble recoveries.
The Steelers went 9-6-1 and missed the playoffs this past season, marking the first time the team failed to qualify for the playoffs since 2013.
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