The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the NFL’s best franchises, but the past few years have been a little uglier for them. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. Part of their lack of success is likely due to their streak of misses in the first round of the draft. Many of their first-round picks in the last 10 years haven’t stuck with the team. Corner Artie Burns is one of those misses, taken by the Steelers in the first round of the 2016 draft. However, it sounds like he thought he was going somewhere other than Pittsburgh going into that night.
“When I was coming out, Miami [Dolphins] had a Miami Pro Day for all the local guys to come out and work out for the team,” Burns said on Tuesday during his introductory press conference with the Dolphins on the team’s YouTube channel. “They insinuated that if I had a good workout, they was gonna pull the trigger on me in the first round.
“On draft night, I’m thinking I had a good workout, I’m thinking they’re gonna pull the trigger on me, and I ended up going to Pittsburgh.”
Burns is a Miami native, having grown up there and attended the University of Miami for college. He was a great athlete, running a 4.46 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine that year. That’s probably part of why the Steelers selected him with the 25th overall pick.
However, things didn’t work out for Burns in Pittsburgh. He recorded three interceptions during his rookie year but never really blossomed into a reliable starter. Burns left the Steelers in free agency after the 2019 season, and he’s bounced around with a few different teams since then.
He’s signed with the Dolphins this offseason and is going back home. It sounds like he felt confident that he could’ve ended up there on draft night back in 2016. The Dolphins held the 13th pick and ultimately selected offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil.
Former Seahawks free-agent CB Artie Burns reached agreement today on a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. Burns is a former first-round pick from the University of Miami, where he was born and raised. Now, a homecoming.
Deal negotiated by Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey. pic.twitter.com/qVGz4R1cO7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 17, 2025
Tunsil has gone on to become one of the best players at his position. That offseason, there were rumblings that Tunsil could be among the top five picks in that draft. Some fans might remember a video being released of him on draft night that hurt his stock. That led to him falling to the Dolphins.
Perhaps if Tunsil hadn’t tumbled down draft boards, Miami might have selected Burns. The 13th pick might’ve been too rich to spend on him, but anything is possible with the draft. The Dolphins were clearly interested in drafting a corner that year. They traded up in the second round to pick 38 to select corner Xavien Howard.
It’s an interesting scenario to consider the domino effect of the Dolphins drafting Burns in the first round. Perhaps that would’ve led to the Steelers selecting Howard, who became a great player for several years, even being named a First-team All-Pro in 2020. The Steelers are scheduled to face the Dolphins this year. We’ll see if Burns can get on the field for that contest.
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