Playing Best Ball of Career in 2021, Artie Burns Aims to Keep Momentum Going With Seahawks

After nearly signing with Seattle two years ago, Burns decided to make the journey to the Pacific Northwest and currently finds himself in the driver's seat pushing for a starting job in a wide-open competition at cornerback.

RENTON, Wash - After four seasons with the Steelers, Artie Burns sought a fresh start as he hit free agency for the first time in 2020. Several teams had interest in the former Miami star due to his elite athleticism, size, and length at the cornerback position, creating a healthy market for his services.

Among those who tried to make an aggressive play for Burns, the Seahawks wanted to find an upgrade to pair with Shaquill Griffin, who had made his first Pro Bowl the previous season. In fact, general manager John Schneider thought they were on the verge of signing him, only for the defender to change course at the last minute and choose to sign with the Bears instead.

"We got very close to signing him. We thought we were going to do it coming from Pittsburgh," Schneider told reporters in March. "And then at the very end, he had a close friend who played for Chicago and he went there."

Like any free agent, Burns weighed a number of different factors while making his decision about where he would play next. Scheme-wise, with 4.4 speed and 33-plus inch arms, he seemed like the ideal fit to play for coach Pete Carroll on the outside. But playing on the eastern side of the country remained important to him and his family, and he admitted geography was a key part of his choice to head to Chicago rather than bolt for Seattle at that point.

Coming off a strong finish to the 2021 season, however, Burns opted to take a far different path in free agency. After spurning the Seahawks two years ago, with the opportunity to continue playing for former Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai in the Pacific Northwest, scheme took precedent over location this time around and he signed a one-year contract in March.

Crediting Desai with being instrumental in him playing the best football of his NFL career last season, the chance to work with him again simply was too good for Burns to pass up, especially for an organization that already had shown great interest in adding him to the fold in the past.

"The way he detailed the scheme up and the expectations and stuff like that of the scheme, I think that's really helped me play at a high level," Burns said of Desai's impact.

In the midst of his first year as Seattle's defensive coordinator, Clint Hurtt has leaned on his coaching staff to find the right personnel to execute his defense. While the organization had already shown interest in Burns previously, Desai's background with him undoubtedly played a crucial role in the team's pursuit.

“Anytime that you have a coach on your staff that has a background with a player that is coming from another team, or even if you had him in college, you want to use all of those resources," Hurtt commented. "When you are bringing a guy in from outside, you want to know who they are as a teammate, who are they in the locker room, meeting room, and things of that nature, so we are bringing the right guy to your organization. We definitely want to lean on his feedback.”

Rebounding beautifully from a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2020 season, Burns emerged in Desai's defense during the second half last season when the Bears were dealing with numerous injuries in the secondary. Finally playing to his potential in a scheme well-suited for his strengths, he broke up five passes and allowed only one touchdown in Chicago's final six games, yielding a 54 percent completion rate and an 89.8 passer rating in coverage.

Interestingly, Burns' best performance may have come against his new team squaring off against star receiver DK Metcalf. In a rare snow game at Lumen Field, he held the All-Pro in check, limiting him to one catch for zero yards and registering a pass breakup on two targets from Russell Wilson. He also produced a pass breakup on one target covering Dee Eskridge, surrendering a 42.4 passer rating in the victory.

"Yeah, that was a pretty good game," Burns smiled.

Following struggles in Pittsburgh early in his career, everything came back to Burns finding his comfort zone in a scheme he was built to thrive in and playing for a coach in Desai who had the utmost confidence in him. It also doesn't hurt that he learned Carroll's desired kick-step technique at Miami, where Brennan Carroll served on the staff when he played there, easing his transition.

After taking a circuitous route to Seattle, Burns hopes to keep that momentum rolling and thus far, he's off to a quick start with his new team. Since the start of OTAs in May, the 28-year old has been working exclusively with the first-team defense across from Sidney Jones and while rookies Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen have shined in their first training camp, the veteran has been equally impressive coming up with several big plays on a daily basis.

In Saturday's third camp practice, on an afternoon where Tyler Lockett already had caught three touchdowns during Seattle's red zone period, Burns denied him the opportunity to push his scoring total to four. Playing tight coverage near the goal line, he stayed in the speedy receiver's hip pocket on an end zone fade thrown by Geno Smith and swatted the pass away, leading to a euphoric response from teammates on the sideline.

Then on Monday, Burns continued his stellar play defending Metcalf, shutting him down on a pair of contested end zone fades with excellent body position. He seemed to get under the receiver's skin a bit, leading to some post-play frustration that may have fueled a minor scuffle with linebacker Darrell Taylor during a team session.

Having previously recruited him while coaching at Louisville, Hurtt hasn't been surprised by what he's seen from Burns on the field in the early stages of camp, lauding his track background, array of physical/athletic tools, and leadership skills.

"It’s hard to find a kid with those kind of measurables and talent," Hurtt said. "We still feel like he is an ascending player and sure enough, he has familiarity with the scheme from being in Chicago last year. You’ve seen that benefit pay off since he has been here. He has great command, helps out the young guys, and I see the arrow going up on Artie on where he’s going.”

Despite being a favorite of the coaching staff, Burns has yet to secure a starting job for Seattle's season opener. Given how well Bryant and Woolen have played and the fact second-year defender Tre Brown should soon be back from a knee injury to join the fight, he will have to keep bringing his A game to fend off the competition in what may be the fiercest positional battle on the entire roster.

But so far, Burns couldn't have asked for a better beginning to his Seahawks tenure and he's put himself in the driver's seat to start against the Broncos in Week 1. Aiming to play a significant role in their success and take the next step forward in his development, he's excited to see everything come together combining talent and scheme on the defensive side of the ball for his new team.

"Fast, physical, and we're gonna get after guys, just bringing in different details on defense and stuff like that. It'll be a nice gel I feel being able to get after guys and have a good shell on the back end."