Packers Add Burgess to Roster
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers on Monday announced linebacker James Burgess, who they plucked off the the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad on Tuesday, has been added to the roster.
To make room, they released guard Ben Braden, who was signed to the practice squad last week and promoted to the roster for Sunday's game against Houston. He did not play vs. the Texans.
Burgess, an undrafted free agent in 2016, played in 27 games with 21 starts from 2017 through 2019.
That sentence hardly does Burgess’ nomadic career justice.
Burgess, the son of former NFL player James Burgess Sr., started 41 games at Louisville but went undrafted in 2016. He signed with the Miami Dolphins, failed to make the roster and spent a couple weeks on the practice squad. During the second half of the 2016 season, he had practice-squad stints with the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns.
“That definitely was the first time ever in my life that I ever felt like I failed,” Burgess told Cleveland.com in 2017. “My whole life I’ve always been a leader on my team from Pop Warner to college, I started as a freshman (at Louisville), so I was always that dude on my team.”
In 2017, he made the Browns’ roster, started nine of his 14 games, and recorded 75 tackles, four sacks and 12 tackles for losses as a combo off-the-ball linebacker and edge defender. In 2018, he played in three games with two starts but was sidelined twice by injuries and released.
Late in the 2018 season, he once again joined the Dolphins’ practice squad. Miami released him about a month after the 2019 draft and he was claimed on waivers by the Jets. He failed to make the Jets’ roster and started the season on their practice squad before being promoted to the active roster. He started 10 games and recorded a career-high and team-leading 80 tackles and five passes defensed as mostly an off-the-ball linebacker.
Among 95 off-the-ball linebackers with at least 100 run-defending snaps, he finished seventh in Pro Football Focus’ run-stop percentage, a metric that essentially measures impact tackles.
“How many times has he been cut?” Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said in November. “Those guys are fun to coach. I love the fact that we’ve had a chance to win with those kinds of guys.”
This year, Burgess spent a week of training camp on the Jets’ COVID-19 reserve list and ultimately failed to make the roster.
On Oct. 13, the Falcons signed him to the practice squad. Green Bay swiped him a week later.
All told, Burgess has been released nine times. On the bright side, this marks the ninth time he’s been signed.
A scout with one of Burgess’ recent employers called him “a good nickel linebacker who can rush. Should be a good fit.”
At 6 foot, 229 pounds, Burgess ran a 4.72 in the 40 at Louisville's pro day before the 2016 draft.
Under more extensive COVID rules to keep players from bringing the virus into team headquarters, a new player needs to pass three tests before he can sign and get an iPad playbook and six tests before he can practice. The Packers announced the signing on Saturday but he couldn't officially join the roster until jumping through the last of the COVID hoops.
Burgess joins a crowded room that includes undrafted rookie Krys Barnes, fifth-round rookie Kamal Martin and second-year player Ty Summers. At some point, veteran Christian Kirksey will return from injured reserve. Plus, former third-round pick Oren Burks has been getting snaps at inside and outside linebacker.
