Former Rutgers FB, Michael Burton, Signs With Lions

Former Rutgers fullback Michael Burton officially signed his first NFL contract on Thursday May 7, took part in a photo shoot that was posted to the Detroit Lions’ Twitter page.

Michael Burton – Lions

A walk-on out of the class of 2010, Burton earned a football scholarship and was named team caption by his teammates his redshirt senior season in 2014. The Long Valley, N.J. native was selected by the Lions in the 5^th round.

According to Dan Duggan of NJ Advance Media, “Terms of the contract were not announced, but all draft picks sign four-year contracts. Salaries are slotted by draft position and the player taken No. 168 overall last year signed a contract worth $2.39 million with $171,480 guaranteed in a signing bonus. Burton’s contract should be in the same neighborhood, although salaries typically increase slightly each year.”

Burton played in 42 career games at Rutgers accumulating 22 carries for 116 yards. The former West Morris Central High School running back grabbed 47 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns “On the Banks”. The former Scarlet Knight helped pave way as a crushing blocker for an offense that totaled 340 yards rushing during the team’s Quick Lane Bowl victory over North Carolina.

After quarterback Matthew Stafford placed 5^th in the NFL a season ago with 602 passing attempts, Detroit has emphasized the running game thus far, also drafting former Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah. The Lions finished 25^th out of 32 teams with only 396 rushing attempts in 2014.

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Ex-Rutgers linebacker Kevin Snyder also signed with the Lion as an undrafted free agent. Snyder totaled 63 tackles as a senior playing in 51 career games since he was a freshman.