The Green Bay Packers are reportedly working on a contract extension with safety Morgan Burnett. Burnett’s contract is currently set to expire following the 2013 season and after extending the contracts of Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews during the offseason, the Packers have tabbed Burnett as their next priority.
Burnett led the team in tackles last season with 123 and continues to make progress in the Packers’ defense. After losing most of his rookie season to a knee injury, Burnett has been one of the most consistent members of the secondary.
With veteran Charles Woodson departing via free agency and some questions lingering about the other starting safety spot, the Packers saw the need to get Burnett locked up sooner than later. Heading into training camp, Jerron McMillian and M.D. Jennings will be competing for the slot opposite Burnett.
The deal is estimated to be somewhere between $30 – $35 million over four years with half in guaranteed money. We will have updated salary figures when the team announces the transaction.
With Burnett’s contract likely to be finalized soon, the question is: who’s next? Among those current Packers whose contracts are also set to expire at the end of the 2013 season are B.J. Raji, Jermichael Finley, James Jones and Evan Dietrich-Smith. It was speculated, following Rodgers and Matthews, that Raji would be the next extension up for discussion. The Packers have a decent amount of salary cap space left, but the team has decided to table Raji’s, and likely any other remaining discussions until after the season.
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Jason Perone is an independent sports blogger writing about the Packers on AllGreenBayPackers.com
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Thats approximately 8M a year. I guess hes worth it?
This just puts a whole lot of heat on Shields and Raji.
They had seniority and more immediate success than Burnett. And Burnett gets the deal first.
Burnett has a lot if leverage being the only proven safety on the roster. A lot of options at CB and even NT/DL depth is more proven than safety. Guessing that a big factor in wanting to get Burnett done.