Bears Give Former Steeler Artie Burns a Second Chance

Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Artie Burns has been through tough times and has come out the better for it.

He'll try to continue proving it with the Chicago Bears.

Burns signed a one-year contract with the Bears after playing last season for $3.05 million for the Steelers.

Burns is a former teammate of Deon Bush's with the Miami Hurricanes and posted a short video of himself and Burns Saturday before going to work out after the announcement.

Deon Bush just posted a video of him working out with new #Bears cornerback Artie Burns on his Instagram. Perfect timing. 👌🏽 pic.twitter.com/ccIFwgi0ND
— Nicholas Moreano (@NicholasMoreano) March 21, 2020

Burns' father, Artie Tyrone Burns Sr., is serving a 25-years sentence in South Carolina for cocaine trafficking. His mother, Danna Smith, died of a heart attack in 2015. As a result, Burns has been entrusted with helping raise his teenage brothers, Thomas and Jordan.

A first-round draft pick in 2016, Burns had lost his job last year to Steelers free agent acquisition Steve Nelson. He still got on the field for one start against the Chargers in Week 6. He played in 10 games and then was inactive the final six weeks of the season.

Burns made 149 tackles with 27 pass defenses and two fumble recoveries in 32 starts over four seasons. He's regarded as a good tackler but has struggled in pass defense. In 2018 when he started six games while playing in six he missed just 8.3% of his tackles according to SportRadar, the NFL's official stat partner.

Pro Football Focus gave Burns respectable grades in his first two seasons of 67.6 and 70.5. The last two years his grades reflect the struggles he had stopping the pass and he received 58.6 and 61.1.

No cash total was available immediately on the signing but it was expected to be on the very low end. Burns had been given a Spotrac.com value of $1 million.

Burns comes in as another competitor in the cornerback battle to replace Prince Amukamara. Former CFL player Tre Roberson, holdover backup Kevin Toliver and Burns are the likely contestants in this competition, and possibly a draft pick.

The Bears still have a safety hole to fill, as well as one at right guard.