Packers News: Morgan Burnett signs contract extension

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Packers safety Morgan Burnett
Packers safety Morgan Burnett

The Green Bay Packers have reached an agreement with safety Morgan Burnett on a four-year contract extension worth $24.75 million, according to Ian Rapoport via Twitter.

Burnett’s deal includes $8.25 million guaranteed.

Following the 2012-13 season, the Packers entered the offseason in hopes of signing several players to contract extensions. The team locked up Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers earlier this offseason, leaving Burnett, B.J. Raji and Jermichael Finley as the next players in line for new deals.

Burnett, 24, is entering his fourth season in the NFL. He missed the majority of his rookie year after suffering a torn ACL in Week 4, but he’s started all 16 games in each of the past two seasons.

The Packers will hope Burnett takes a step forward in his fourth year, which is when former safety Nick Collins was named to his first of three Pro Bowls.

Last year was Burnett’s best individual season as a professional. He set new career highs with 123 tackles and two sacks. Burnett’s two interceptions came against the Minnesota Vikings against quarterback Christian Ponder.

It was a matter of when, not if the Packers would strike a deal with Burnett. But with the deal done before training camp, the Packers can now shift their attention to someone else on the roster with an expiring contract.

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Marques is a Journalism student, serving as the Sports Editor of UW-Green Bay\'s campus newspaper The Fourth Estate and a Packers writer at Jersey Al\'s AllGBP.com. Follow Marques on Twitter @MJEversoll.

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8 thoughts on “Packers News: Morgan Burnett signs contract extension

  1. By my estimate the Packers have Burnett locked up for 5 yrs at just over 26M. Packers are BRILLIANT!

  2. Agreed, this was a good signing and considerably less then the previously reported “8M” a year

  3. This was a excellent signing. Just the other day I had written that I thought Burnett was “Just another guy”. But after watching some games from last year on a rainy day, I saw I was wrong about some things. He had missed a few tackles against the Vikings, one that helped Peterson run 82 yards for a TD. He also intercepted Ponder twice and if not for those who knows what would have happened in that game. My point is, this is good for both the Packers and Burnett but it also scares the hell out of me. I understand that T.T. wants to see what Jones, Raji, Shields, Neal, and Finley do this season. They want to see how Quarless knee holds up. It also gives these players a chance to totally price themselves out of Green Bay. I know you can’t keep them all but out of those 6 players, the only one I think the Packers can afford to lose is Finley. I say that only because I think we have enough talent at TE to replace him already, if we absolutely had to.

    1. Raji is already being paid a lot as the #9 draft pick. Even if he has a big year, his salary can’t go up too much (and whatever it does can come from a decrease in Picketts contract). Same is true for Finley, who’s already on the books for 8M, I can’t see him getting more than another 1 or 1.5M per. Neither will be hard to re-sign. If Tramon doesn’t have a year like ’10 he’ll be released and most of his money can go to Shields. Those are the 3 that will cost the most, and are pretty easy to account for.

      Jones IMO is playing out his contract and leaving in FA. Good player, but not a difference maker (he’ll never approach the TD numbers he had last year) and not hard to replace. Same w/ Quarless, who I think they’ll bring back at a nominal salary. I really don’t see the Packers having a problem signing the guys they want to keep.

      1. I agree with everything you said Stroh but my concern is WR. I had forgot that Raji received that big money in 2009. Pickett could be brought back, but for a lot less. I agree with Williams being gone after this year, clearly the shoulder was a issue and may never get better where he’ll step in front of Peterson instead out of his way. I supported Jones in 2010 and do now. He came through in a huge way last year and I believe will this year. 14 TD’s? Maybe not but still effective. Boykin better start to pan out and one of these rookies if Jones leaves after this year then.

        1. If Jones leaves, WR would be somewhat of a concern, I can’t deny that. Unless of course Boykin steps up big. And I expect that Jones will continue to be effective. Similar numbers as last year maybe, but w/ 6 or 7 TD’s. He’s a good WR and always has been. I just think he’ll be the odd man out looking for another contract. I think this might be the year Thompson looks WR again. So that’ll replenish the ranks a little.

          To me WR need to be excellent athletes w/ good hands. The rest can be taught… Route running, especially. Boykin is just so similar size and athletically that I think he would be more than competent replacement for Jones w/ a little more experience and refinement.

          1. Ooops… I think this might be the year Thompson looks WR in the top of the draft again.

  4. I think this is a pretty smart signing for all parties. My personal feeling is that the safety position has two components: making plays and covering for other’s mistakes. Burnett is pretty good in the latter, he doesn’t make many mistakes of his own, gets the secondary lined up and overall can hold his own if a cornerback decides to jump a route or read a coverage a certain way and guesses wrong. On the other hand, Burnett hasn’t really shown himself to be the type of playmaker that Nick Collins was (added to the fact that Collins was really good a covering for guy’s mistakes) and paying Burnett just outside top 10 money seems fair for everyone. He’s not as good as Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu or Nick Collins in their prime, but he’s a solid player that won’t kill a secondary.

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