Oren Burks

8 NFL seasons, 4 teams, and a Super Bowl LIX ring with the 2024 Eagles.

Burks is the textbook veteran special-teams + sub-package LB — a 2018 3rd-round Packers pick who never developed into a starter but who's now in Year 8, on his 4th franchise, and owns a Super Bowl ring (PHI, Super Bowl LIX, 2024 season).

The career arc: drafted by Green Bay → released to San Francisco (where he was on the Super Bowl LVIII roster, losing) → won a ring with Philly → signed with Cincinnati in 2025. Every stop has produced consistent ST + LB depth value.

His tackle totals jumped from 21 (2023 SF) to 36 (2024 PHI) — the biggest one-year leap of his career.

For four straight Green Bay seasons (2018-2021), Burks's tackle counts looked like depth/ST numbers — 16, 8, 15, 21. The leap came in San Francisco's 2023 defense (30 tackles) and then Philly 2024 (36 tackles in just 10 games).

The 2024 line is the standout: 36 tackles + 1 sack in 10 games = 3.6 tackles per game, a rate that would project to 61 tackles in a 17-game season. That's why Philly's deep playoff roster used him as a 4th LB / dime piece all the way through the Lombardi.

19 career postseason appearances — including back-to-back Super Bowls with SF (2023) and PHI (2024).

Burks has been on a playoff roster in 6 of his 7 completed NFL seasons (everything except 2018). The combined postseason line: ~19 career playoff games, 28 tackles, 1 sack, 4 PDs.

The 2024 Philly run was the peak: he played in all 4 playoff games, recorded 16 tackles + 1 sack in the NFC title game, and won Super Bowl LIX. That came one year after playing in Super Bowl LVIII with the 49ers (3 tackles in the loss) — back-to-back Super Bowl appearances on different rosters.

172 career tackles across 8 seasons — but the meaningful number is the Super Bowl ring.

By the counting stats, Burks's career has been quiet: 172 regular-season tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 0 career starts at full-season scale. Career sacks: 3.0. Career forced fumbles: 7.

What the box score doesn't show is the special-teams snap volume and the spot-defensive role on multiple deep playoff teams. The career résumé now reads: Super Bowl LVIII appearance (SF, lost) + Super Bowl LIX win (PHI). For a 3rd-round LB who never started — that's about the most a journeyman role can earn.

Among LBs with 60+ career games and <5 sacks, Burks has the best playoff hardware in the league.

There's a particular roster role — veteran rotational LB / core ST player — that produces lots of football journeymen but rarely produces Super Bowl rings. Burks's resume sits at the very top of that subgroup:

- 8 years on NFL rosters - 3.0 career sacks (well below average for a 3rd-round pick) - 6 playoff teams in 7 seasons - 2 Super Bowl appearances (1 win)

The career line is a textbook reminder that playoff hardware isn't always proportional to box-score output.

4 career forced fumbles in 2024 alone — 4 of his career 7, all in one year with Philly.

Burks's 2024 Philadelphia year produced 4 forced fumbles — more than he'd had in any prior 4-year stretch combined. Career FF totals before 2024: 3 across 6 seasons.

The forced-fumble spike lines up with his most active defensive snap share of his career (per the 36 tackles in 10 games). It's also a useful tell that Vic Fangio's Eagles defense found a real situational role for him — sub-package linebacker on early downs, where contact and stripping opportunities cluster.