On Tuesday, the Carolina Panthers became the third NFL team to deploy a 2024 franchise tag, announcing that they’ve placed a $24.007 million tender on pass rusher Brian Burns.
Burns was fully expected to be tagged before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline. He won’t be allowed to hit unrestricted free agency, where the former first-round pick could have landed an annual salary close to $30 million and more than $60 million in guaranteed money.
The Panthers will keep Burns next season, but they’ve mishandled negotiations with their star pass rusher since 2022, when they rejected an all-time offer for Burns from the Los Angeles Rams.
Revisiting the Panthers-Rams Brian Burns Trade Talks
Carolina had already fired head coach Matt Rhule and was going nowhere fast when the NFL trade deadline approached in October 2022.
The Panthers made one significant deal, sending running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for second-, third-, and fourth-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft and a fifth-round choice in 2024.
The #Panthers have officially placed the franchise tag on star pass rusher Brian Burns, per multiple reports. 🏷️
The 2-time Pro Bowler has 46 sacks through his first five seasons.#KeepPounding | #NFL pic.twitter.com/KwDZNBIxg0
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) March 5, 2024
But owner David Tepper and then-general manager Scott Fitterer held onto Burns despite a potentially franchise-altering proposal from the Rams.
Los Angeles offered two first-round picks and a second-round selection in exchange for Burns, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, but Carolina rejected the trade.
Because the Rams had already traded their 2023 first-rounder, the Round 1 selections the Panthers would have received would have come in 2024 and 2025.
Burns generated more trade interest at the 2023 trade deadline. Schefter indicated that the Chicago Bears, 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens were among the teams to reach out to Carolina about Burns last autumn.
The Panthers could still trade Burns after tagging him this offseason, but they won’t receive anywhere near the package that the Rams tried to give away two years ago.
Any team that acquires Burns now will have to extend him at a market rate, which could mean paying the 25-year-old close to $30 million annually. Simply gaining access to a player of Burns’ caliber is worth something in a trade — but not two firsts and a second.
Carolina’s most straightforward path is extending Burns on a long-term contract. Aside from defensive tackle Derrick Brown, the Panthers don’t have any other assets up for extensions over the next several offseasons. With a young, rebuilding roster in place, it doesn’t make sense for Carolina to let Burns leave.
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But even a new deal could come with regrets, at least from the Panthers’ perspective. They could have extended him after his third NFL season in 2021, after he’d posted his second consecutive nine-sack campaign and earned his first Pro Bowl nod.
But Carolina kept waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
Now that reports about Burns’ trade value have emerged while he’s on the brink of free agency, he has no reason to settle for anything less than a Tier 1 pass-rusher contract.
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