Burks Signs with 49ers; Latest Black Eye on 2018 NFL Draft

Jaire Alexander could be standing alone in the Green Bay Packers’ ill-fated 2018 NFL Draft class.

Linebacker Oren Burks, a third-round draft pick four years ago, has agreed to terms with the San Francisco 49ers, he announced via Twitter.

Burks is the first player to depart Green Bay in free agency but he almost certainly won’t be the last. According to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, Burks signed a two-year contract worth $5 million. That might put the Packers right on the fringe of collecting a seventh-round compensatory draft pick for 2023. Nick Korte of OverTheCap.com, who studies the comp-pick formula, thought Burks’ potential lack of snaps on defense could work against the Packers receiving some compensation.

With size, athleticism and a defensive backs background after starting his college career at Vanderbilt as a safety, Burks was billed as a new-age, every-down linebacker. Goodness knows the Packers needed one. So, general manager Brian Gutekunst traded fourth- and fifth-round selections to move up to No. 88 overall to land Burks.

However, in four seasons, Burks didn’t break up a single pass. Zero. Of his seven career starts, three came in 2021, when he recorded 26 tackles and a half-sack, Burks missed four tackles – the same number as Campbell despite having 119 fewer tackles and playing 773 fewer snaps. The team dabbled with him at outside linebacker because, well, why not?

On the other hand, Burks was second on the team with 10 tackles on special teams while logging a team-high 337 snaps in that phase of the game. Green Bay’s kicking units were the worst in the NFL last season but that doesn’t mean every player on those units was bad.

In his first draft as general manager, Gutekunst drafted 11 players in 2018. The first was Alexander, the elite cornerback. The others: cornerback Josh Jackson in the second round, Burks in the third, receiver J’Mon Moore in the fourth, guard Cole Madison, punter JK Scott and receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fifth, receiver Equanimeous St. Brown in the sixth, and defensive lineman James Looney, long snapper Hunter Bradley and outside linebacker Kendall Donnerson in the seventh.

Alexander, Burks, Valdes-Scantling and St. Brown were the last players remaining on the roster by the end of last season. The last three players on that list are free agents. With the Packers tight against the cap, Alexander might be the last man standing.

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