Brian Burns traded to Giants as Panthers make stunning U-turn on Rams' offer

13 March 2024 , 01:00

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Brian Burns instantly signed a five-year deal after being sent to the New York Giants (Image: Getty Images)

The Carolina Panthers are kicking themselves after trading Brian Burns to the New York Giants, just a year after they turned down an offer from the Los Angeles Rams.

The Giants gave up a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick for Burns, then quickly signed him to a five-year deal worth up to £117million, with £68.4m guaranteed. Burns leaving frees up £18m for the Panthers, but the trade can't be made official until Wednesday when the league year starts.

The Giants were keen to boost their pass rush in the off-season and wanted another star to join Kayvon Thibodeaux, who managed 11.5 sacks in 2023. Despite Azeez Ojulari being injured for much of last season, the Giants only managed 34 sacks - the fifth-lowest in the NFL. The Panthers didn't fare much better, with only 27 sacks and ranking 29th in points allowed. But Burns wasn't the issue.

He had 46 sacks over five seasons in Carolina, along with 246 tackles, 95 quarterback hits, and eight forced fumbles. Only Julius Peppers, a Hall of Famer, had more sacks in his first five seasons with the Panthers.

Burns was up for trade last offseason, but the Panthers decided to keep him. Even though his performance dipped a bit, Burns still led the team in sacks (eight) for the second year running. He also made 18 QB hits, 16 tackles for loss, two passes defensed, and forced a fumble.

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The Panthers didn't get as much as they hoped from the Giants, especially after they turned down two first-round picks for Burns - who was the 16th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft - last summer.

Brian Burns was a trade target for the LA Rams last year (No credit)

Carolina tried to sign Burns to a long-term deal last year and at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month, but talks didn't go anywhere.

This is just the latest surprising move by the Panthers; they traded Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for second, third and fourth-round draft picks halfway through the 2022 NFL season. Since then, McCaffrey has become one of the best and most versatile offensive players in the league, while the Panthers have struggled.

The Giants traded for Burns on the first day of free agency. They did this after losing star running back Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles and safety Xavier McKinney to the Green Bay Packers.

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.

Andrew Gamble