Cleveland Browns Free Agent Review: S Juston Burris

Up next in our review of the Browns’ unrestricted free agents is S Juston Burris.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

How and When He Joined the Browns: Burris’ career began in 2016 as a fourth round pick with the Jets. He was signed by the Browns in November 2018 and spent all of training camp with Cleveland in 2019. He didn’t make the initial 53-man roster, but was claimed off waivers a couple weeks later.

Productivity Level Last Season: The contributions that Burris made were one of the few pleasant surprises on defense during the 2019 season. The safety position turned out to be a mess due to injuries, but Burris filled in as both a starting safety and the third safety role, playing 14 games and starting 9 games.

He finished the season with 32 tackles, 1 sack, 7 passes defended, 2 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble. Burris had good instincts for where the ball would be going and made few mistakes.

Why Keeping Him Could Make Sense: Burris showed versatility in playing both safety roles, and received an above average grade from Pro Football Focus. While Cleveland tries to address both of their starting safety positions, they already have Sheldrick Redwine as one of their backup safeties; keeping Burris would seem wise so they can shore up the back-end depth.

What the Browns Should Do: Burris has not made much of a splash in the NFL since being drafted in 2016. This past season with the Browns was enough to show on tape what he’s capable of, but not enough to command any type of lucrative free agent deal. I’d sign Burris to a 2-year deal worth $2 million; a little higher than the veteran minimum, which is what he accepted last offseason.

Let us know below whether or not the team should try to re-sign Juston Burris.