Michael Burton leaves Chiefs to reunite with Sean Payton

The Denver Broncos will feature a familiar face on their sidelines next season as Michael Burton has decided to reunite with Sean Payton at Mile High.

For the first time in a few seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are going to have to turn to a new face at fullback—that is, if they want to utilize a fullback at all. That’s because Michael Burton has made up his mind in free agency to reunite with his former coach and play for the Denver Broncos.

With Sean Payton taking over in Denver, the former New Orlean Saints head coach is going to turn to some familiar faces here and there to help him in his new environs. One of those will be Burton, who played for Payton and the Saints in 2020, shortly before joining the Chiefs.

Burton originally came into the league as a fifth-round pick of the Detroit Lions and he stuck with the team for two seasons but was waived in the spring of 2017 as the Lions made changes. The Chicago Bears claimed him on waivers and he played there in the Windy City for two years. He played for Washington in 2019 and the Saints in 2020 before finally joining the Chiefs.

In Kansas City, Burton replaced Anthony Sherman as the longtime fullback and played that sparingly used role for the Chiefs over two seasons, including a Super Bowl-winning run this past year. He set a personal high in yards from scrimmage in his first year with the Chiefs—with a total of 57—and scored one of two touchdowns in his career in ’21.

It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs approach that position at this point. Will Matt Nagy’s offense allow for a rarely used roster spot? What about a hybrid sort of role? Burton’s exit will force the Chiefs to adjust some wrinkles in the offensive picture either way.