Bengals release veteran linebacker Vontaze Burfict

Pittsburgh Steelers v Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals finally call it quits with veteran linebacker, Vontaze Burfict.

The Cincinnati Bengals have had their hands full with veteran linebacker Vontaze Burfict for quite a while now. After an entire offseason of trying to shop around Burfict, it seems as though his market value has dried up in 2019. Without any realistic trade suitors, the Bengals realized they have no way to get a return for Burfict. Therefore, they have released him.

This is not very shocking, considering that it has been public knowledge for a while now that Burfict’s days with the Bengals are finished. Thinking that the market for linebackers is a bit weak now into the second week of Free Agency, Burfict should have a few teams interested. Unfortunately, his on-field behavior may kill his demand though.

While with the Bengals, Burfict could get away with a lot. That’s the way Cincinnati rolled under the Marvin Lewis era. Now that Burfict is finally going to have to search for another opportunity elsewhere, he may have to clean up his act to save himself moving forward.

Last season, Burfict appeared in seven total games. He ended up collecting 33 tackles. Considering that the Bengals were far from competitive in 2018, Burfict didn’t really generate too much productivity in the seven games that he played. Since Burfict hasn’t played in a full season since 2013, it’s hard to imagine that he’s going to collect big on the Free Agency market.

It’s most likely that at this point, Burfict will find himself a one-year deal somewhere, and that will dictate his career moving forward. The last time Burfict exceeded 100 tackles in a single season was back in 2016, where he played in only 11 games. Considering that he’s hardly available because of suspensions and injuries, there’s no real reason why teams should give Burfict much at this point in his career.

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