Artie Burns’ time away from the Bears didn’t last very long. One day after Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy decided to release the cornerback, reports have surfaced saying the team has re-signed him.
It’s likely this was the plan all along. With the Bears expected to place Teven Jenkins on short-term IR, they needed to carry him on their initial 53-man roster before putting him on the shelf. Therefore someone’s spot needed to be given up for a day, and that someone very likely could have been Burns.
Burns has been locked in a battle for the second starting cornerback job along with Kindle Vildor. For the time it appears Vildor has the inside track for that starting job, although things can change ahead of the Bears’ Week 1 matchup against the Rams.
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The Bears initially signed Artie Burns to a one-year in the 2020 offseason to play alongside Kyle Fuller. But Burns tore his ACL in training camp, thrusting Jaylon Johnson into the starter’s role. Now, Johnson has the No. 1 spot locked up, and the Bears re-signed Burns to another one-year deal to give him another chance.
Burns was initially a first-round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers and played in 58 games there over four years. But he only started in a full 16 games once, in 2017. His best statistical season however was his rookie year in 2016, when he intercepted three balls, defended 13 passes and notched 65 tackles.
The Bears now have five cornerbacks on their roster: Johnson, Vildor, Burns, Duke Shelley and Xavier Crawford.
