Rex Burkhead was drafted in the sixth round, yet he nevertheless spent ten seasons in the NFL. The seasoned running back won’t try to return and didn’t play in the 2023 campaign.
On Monday, the former player for the Bengals, Patriots, and Texans announced his retirement. As a supplemental back, this will cap off a fruitful career in which Burkhead was mostly employed in New England. While Josh Jacobs was away on the franchise tag last summer, Burkhead, 33, did travel to Las Vegas for a Raiders workout; however, a reunion with Josh McDaniels did not materialize.
In the 2017 offseason, the Patriots signed Burkhead for the first time, allowing LeGarrette Blount to walk free. Over the next four years, Burkhead and James White were the Pats’ main backfield players, with Cordarrelle Patterson, Sony Michel, Damien Harris, and Dion Lewis all making intermittent appearances. Burkhead was mostly utilized by the Patriots as a backup running back and a reserve pass receiver. Despite scoring eight touchdowns in 2017 (three of which came through receptions), his most noteworthy performances came during the 2018 postseason. When the NFL only permitted clubs to remove two players off injured reserve during a season, the Patriots reserved an IR-return space for Burkhead, who had sustained a concussion early in the season.
The Chiefs seemed sure to rise, but the Patriots upset the top-seeded club in the 2018 AFC championship game, delaying their rise. A thrilling overtime game in Kansas City was won by the Pats. Burkhead, who finished the game with 64 scrimmage yards, gave the Pats a lead in the last minute of regulation and then gave the visitors a walk-off victory with a 2-yard touchdown to end the first possession of overtime. Not long after, Burkhead received a Super Bowl ring.
Earlier in the 2010s, Burkhead was a part of a crowded Bengals backfield where much of the work was done by Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard. The only one of the Nebraska product’s four Cincinnati seasons in which he exceeded 100 scrimmage yards was his 2016 platform year. Nevertheless, the Patriots awarded Burkhead three contracts, the most prominent of which was a three-year, $9.75MM deal in 2018.
Burkhead got two additional contracts with the rebuilding Texans to end his career there, one of which was managed by former Patriots executive Nick Caserio. In Week 16 of that season, Burkhead put on a 149-yard performance to help the Texans defeat the Chargers; the outcome prevented the Bolts from making the playoffs. Burkhead, 31, recorded a career-high 427 running yards at the end of the 2021 campaign. During his career, Burkhead made little over $18 million.
