Free-agent linebacker Vontaze Burfict is among the crop of players on the market hoping for another shot this offseason.
Burfict had spent the 2019 NFL season with the Las Vegas Raiders in their final year in Oakland. Although he had etched out an integral role for himself as the vocal leader of the defense, his tenure was cut short by a 12-game suspension for another illegal helmet-to-helmet hit.
Burfict’s track record with violating player safety clearly has him walking on thin ice with the league. Regardless, he is confident that he can toe the line while maintaining his aggressive approach.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Burfict feels that he can avoid any further infractions without losing the physical edge that he brings to the table:
“I have to be,” Burfict told me by phone this week, in his first public comments since his suspension was quietly lifted on Dec. 30. “I’m a tone-setter. But I can also be a vocal leader, and that’s what I was trying to do (last season with the Raiders) before I got suspended — trying to switch up my image and the way I play, the way people (perceive) me.
“And I’m not going to lie, bro. The first two, three years, everybody was saying, ‘(He’s) the villain.’ You guys think I’m a villain? You just go on and live with it. Then, it gets old, when you go out there and some fans think that I’m just out to hurt people. That’s not the case.”
Burfict added that he is willing to change with the times as the league continues to make stricter rules:
“You can tell how the years changed and the years evolved in football from Ray Lewis to Brian Urlacher to now,” Burfict said. “You watch Luke Kuechly, Lavonte David, me — it’s a totally different era, and watching how the eras have changed, you’ve got to change with it.”
It is certainly encouraging to see that Burfict is optimistic about being able to find a balance between physicality and unnecessary roughness. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether or not it has taken him too long to show that he can apply it to the field.
Burfict’s absence clearly left a notable void in the Raiders’ linebacker corps and head Coach Jon Gruden was not shy about expressing his displeasure with the NFL’s decision to suspend him for the bulk of the season. Regardless, the signing could still serve as a cautionary tale for teams in knowing that he is still just one penalty away from not being able to play.
It seems that may not shy the Raiders away from bringing him back though, as they have reported interest in re-signing him after he was reinstated from suspension. They have also added a pair of linebackers in free agency in Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski, so it’s also possible that ship has sailed.
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