With the deadline for the Pittsburgh Steelers to exercise the fifth-year option on 2016 first-round draft pick Artie Burns set to pass on Friday, it should already be obvious that the team will not be exercising their right to retain the cornerback in 2020. But for those still hoping that the Steelers might have a change of heart in the final 24 hours, a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on Wednesday should have ended that fantasy.
Steelers expected to decline CB Artie Burns’ fifth-year option, per sources. Burns was replaced in the starting lineup last year and is set to become a free agent in 2020 barring change before the May 3 deadline.