Burnham shopping for NFL job
Free-agent receiver hopes to entice NFL team
Sand in your toes, a tropical drink in hand, the Caribbean in view, nobody enquiring about your business ...
Instead of lying on a beach, wondering whether he’s packed enough sunblock or Kaopectate, free-agent receiver Bryan Burnham is working out religiously in Tulsa, Okla., when he’s not jetting around the U.S. trying to catch the eye of a prospective National Football League employer.
Four other B.C. Lions free agents signed reserve/future contracts with the NFL earlier in January— linebacker Adam Bighill, who has a three-year deal with the New Orleans Saints, cornerback Anthony Gaitor, also signed by New Orleans, defensive lineman/outside linebacker Alex Bazzie with the Indianapolis Colts and punter Richie Leone with the Arizona Cardinals.
Burnham hopes to make it a Party of Five.
“Everything is up in the air at the moment,” he concedes. “I’m just trying to be patient, staying in shape, getting prepared to play football, wherever that is. The fact that four of my teammates got signed doesn’t surprise me. We have a lot of talent on this Lions team. The guys who have been signed deserve it.”
Bighill, Bazzie, Leone and Gaitor all were announced in a wave of signings Jan. 5-9. In that same time period, Edmonton Eskimos receiver Derel Walker agreed to a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for US$1.120 million, according to Spotrac.
In 2016, Burnham, the Canadian Football League’s fourth-leading receiver with 1,392 yards, finished 197 yards in arrears of Walker, the No. 2 man behind league leader Adarius Bowman, in the CFL receiving race.
Yet, when production is adjusted for expectation, there’s little doubt that Burnham was the greatest overachiever among CFL pass catchers last year. In 2015, his second year in the league, Burnham was only the sixth-best receiver on the Lions and No. 43 CFL-wide with 423 yards.
No wonder the NFL is willing to kick the tires on a breakout, free agent from Moorestown, N.J., even if most signings from the CFL — with the exception of Walker — have been individuals who line up on defence.
“No defensive tackles, offensive linemen, QBs or running backs and only one receiver,” observes Lions head coach and GM Wally Buono. “Walker is the exception. He has tremendous speed and athleticism. He’s pretty much in an elite class. When you look at the NFL signings (from Canada), they’re mostly defensive players who are athletic, who can run and defend the pass.”
Even so, Burnham is getting a Cook’s Tour of NFL camps. He’s been to so many tryouts, in fact, he has trouble remembering them all. Late December and January have been something of a whirlwind.
“Minnesota, the (New York) Jets, Philadelphia, Jacksonville ... seven, maybe eight,” Burnham attempts to recall. “I’ve been on the same trail with Bazzie and (Mic’hael) Brooks (another Lions defensive free agent). I’m seeing parts of the country I’ve never been to before. You don’t get to spend a lot of time there once you get there. You fly in, and then you fly out. I’ve done the rounds, I’ve done the workouts, I’ve done everything I can can. Now it’s just wait and see.”
A “futures” contract — which NFL teams use to lock up practice roster players and free agents before they can be poached by other teams — usually pays a minimum salary (NFL rookies are entitled to a max of $US465,000 in 2017) and can contain a token amount (as little as $500) or no signing bonus. And there’s no limit to how many futures contracts a team can tender, as long as they’re under the 90-man roster cap at the beginning of the league year (in 2017, that date is March 9).
Most “futures” will be happy just to make it to training camp and fight for a roster spot.
Still, for a player who was recruited by only one Division I school — Tulsa University — who fought through a star-crossed, injury-plagued college career and went unnoticed by the NFL in his draft year, it’s something of a kick for Burnham to even be in this position. He received an invite to a Lions free-agent tryout in Seattle in 2014 only after his sister, Shannon Burnham-Ulmer, who worked for the club, did some lobbying with player personnel director Neil McEvoy.
“Oh, yeah, it’s been a tough road to get to this point, but all my work is starting to pay off,” Burnham says. “It feels good. I don’t know how free agency will play out. I really haven’t thought that far ahead. But, if it comes to re-signing with the Lions ... well, I love that team.”
Apparently, so does the NFL.
I’m seeing parts of the (U.S.) I’ve never been to before. I’ve done the rounds, I’ve done the workouts, I’ve done everything.