Notre Dame DE Joshua Burnham plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

With one year of eligibility remaining, Notre Dame defensive end Joshua Burnham is expected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal when it officially opens on Jan. 2. He announced Tuesday his plan to enter the portal on Instagram.

He appeared in all 12 of Notre Dame’s games in 2025 and played the fifth-most snaps among the Irish defensive ends, behind Boubacar Traore, Bryce Young, Jordan Botelho and Junior Tuihalamaka, in that order.

Burnham, who completed his Notre Dame degree requirements last summer, totaled 235 snaps on the season, according to Pro Football Focus. His overall defense score on the year was 74.6.

The Traverse City, Mich. native will look to be the defensive end for a program in 2026, rather than a rotational piece at Notre Dame for his final season.

Burnham recorded his first career sack in the first game of his redshirt freshman season in 2023. He’s been a regular part of Notre Dame’s defensive line rotation ever since that game against Navy in Dublin, Ireland.

Despite starting for Notre Dame in the 34-23 loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship game in January, Burnham lost his starting spot to sophomore defensive end Bryce Young in the preseason. Young was named the starter on the initial Week 1 depth chart, and Burnham didn’t even receive an “or” designation for players who will heavily rotate.

He totaled 16 tackles, 6 tackles for loss and 3 sacks in his 12-game senior season. Across his 40 career contests, Burnham recorded 65 tackles, 6 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

Burnham started 10 games and tallied 30 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks during the 2024 season while being limited by a left ankle injury that lingered from the second game of the season and forced him to be sidelined for two full games.

Burnham was a part of Notre Dame head coach’s Marcus Freeman‘s first recruiting class, when he was the program’s defensive coordinator. The Irish signed Burnham as a linebacker prospect, and quickly transitioned to defensive end during a freshman season in which he played just one game.

He committed to the Irish on his 17th birthday, giving Freeman a marquee recruiting victory over Alabama, Michigan and Ohio State. Burnham played in the 2022 All-American Bowl after a decorated high school career. He was the 2021 MLive and Gatorade Michigan High School Football Player of the Year.