Former Georgia Tech center Freddie Burden had to wait a year for his opportunity to play professional football, but he’s got it.
Burden will attend the Cleveland Browns rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis. If he performs well, he can be signed as a free agent to the roster. The odds are long – he would have to convince Browns decision makers that he’s worth keeping over a player that they’ve already signed – but it’s a shot. Last year, Cleveland brought 17 tryout players to its rookie mini-camp and signed two to its offseason roster.
Also last year, Burden’s quarterback, Justin Thomas, briefly made the New Orleans Saints roster at the end of the team’s rookie mini-camp tryout.
Burden had bad timing with a broken ankle suffered in Tech’s bowl-game win at the end of the 2016 season, which prevented him from performing for scouts in the run-up to the 2017 draft. Burden continued to work out on his own and took part in Tech’s pro day in April.
With help from Atlanta-based agent Ryan Rubin, Burden was able to secure the tryout in Cleveland. The rookie mini-camp will be held next weekend.
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