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The New Orleans Saints have always valued the fullback, which is a bit surprising given the position’s endangered species-status around the NFL in recent years. At a time when teams are throwing the ball more than ever and opting for less-crowded backfields in favor of wide-open pass sets, hard-nosed blockers like Michael Burton have generally had to take opportunities whenever they’ve come up.
But as Burton explained it, the Saints (as pass-happy as any team in the league) have a lot to offer to someone in his position. He spent the 2019 training camp competing with Zach Line for the starting gig, but had his hopes derailed by a late-summer injury. Now healthy, with Line retired and an open vacancy on top of the depth chart, Burton’s positive experience made the Saints a logical landing spot.
Burton spoke about his interest in the Saints and what led him back to New Orleans during a conference call with local media, saying, “Any given year, they’re top four in the league in fullback percentage usage and it just interests me too. I like the analytical side of football as well. I think maybe I want to be a coach or something like that.”
He also ran through a list of recent standout fullbacks the Saints have employed, proving he’s done his homework: “You look at Zach, the previous years, John Kuhn a few years ago, Austin Johnson, a few years ago, Jed Collins a few years ago, you have had a great fullback in place. That’s the goal to have the right guy.”
But it goes beyond a strong team culture and a playbook that creates plenty of opportunities for him to get on the field. The Saints coaching staff itself appealed to Burton. He first entered the NFL with the Detroit Lions, playing under then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi (now the Saints quarterbacks coach). And even earlier than that, he suited up at Rutgers with familiar faces on the Saints special teams staff like coordinator Darren Rizzi and assistant coach Phil Galiano drawing up his assignments.
Burton did the math, and reached an easy conclusion: the Saints matched up with what he wanted from just about every angle you could consider. Once the team gets to work, he should hit the ground running.
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