Even at 34 years old and after an entire year away from football, former Denver Broncos running back Michael Burton could still help an NFL team.
Burton showed as much on Tuesday when he signed with the Cleveland Browns after sitting out all of 2025 with a hamstring injury suffered during training camp.
“Browns signed former Broncos FB Michael Burton,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account.
Burton’s new contract with the Browns will push him past the $10 million mark in career earnings if he makes the 53-man roster.
“Man, does Michael Burton love football,” Broncos reporter Mike Klis wrote on his official X account on Tuesday. “Even though the FB has been ramming his head and shoulders into ends and linebackers for 10 years, even though he missed all last season following hamstring surgery, even though he’s 34, source confirms he signed 1-year deal with Browns … Broncos re-signed Adam Prentice, their FB from last year and a team only needs one. Broncos kept door open for Burton but better opportunity in Cleveland where new HC Todd Monken uses the fullback.”
Burton Called ‘Most Underrated Player’ on Roster
Playing fullback has been a thankless job for decades, yet some NFL players still turn it into an art form and Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr picked Burton as the most underrated player on the roster headed into the 2024 season — a year in which the Broncos snapped an 8-year playoff drought.
“I was planning on making this a Jaleel McLaughlin appreciation post but kept seeing Burton absolutely destroying people,” Orr wrote. “I go back to McLaughlin’s first career touchdown last season against the Washington Commanders, and Burton clocked two separate defenders on a path of relentlessness. Burton also made quite possibly the most taxing downfield block of the 2023 season. After picking up a blitzing linebacker against the Los Angeles Chargers, he sprinted almost half the football field to pave the way to the end zone for Lil’Jordan Humphrey.”
Burton’s Journeyman Career Brought Him to Denver
Burton, 6-foot and 247 pounds, was drafted out of Rutgers in the 5th round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, and played for 6 teams over the next decade, including winning a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs following the 2022 season.
Burton played two seasons with the Lions, two seasons with the Chicago Bears, one season with the Commanders, one season with the New Orleans Saints and two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played in all 17 regular-season games and all three postseason games in 2022 on the way to a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Burton’s NFL career has been almost entirely thankless when it comes to stats — in 147 career games, he has just 42 carries for 79 yards and 2 touchdowns to go with 31 receptions for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He’s also had to prove himself at every stop along the way — he’s played on 1-year contracts in every season since 2019.
“Browns said ‘We need more lunch-pail guys’ and brought in Michael Burton,” X user Uzumaki wrote on their official account. “Fullbacks are basically extinct in today’s NFL but Cleveland is out here building a 1990s time machine. Imagine Chubb running behind Burton — defenses are going to hate life. He’s not flashy, but he’ll pancake linebackers and celebrate like it’s the Super Bowl. Love these gritty, under-the-radar signings.”
$10 Million Broncos Running Back Lands New Job in AFC