Carolina Panthers star Brian Burns enters NFL offseason, free agency with uncertainty
The Carolina Panthers have a long to-do list this offseason — one that includes hiring a new head coach, finding a new general manager, building around rookie quarterback Bryce Young on offense and making tough free agency decisions on defense.
That’s all clear to Brian Burns, too.
“I just know they got a lot of stuff to do,” Burns, the two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher, said Monday, as he and his teammates moved out of the locker room for the last time in the 2023 season.
“They got a lot of stuff to figure out,” he added. “And I don’t think I’m No. 1 on that list right now.”
Monday marked the beginning of Burns’ 2024 offseason, one swirling with about as much uncertainty as there possibly can be. The 6-foot-5, 249-pound outside linebacker is now a free agent — and the charismatic defensive captain is unsure of his future in Carolina, the organization that drafted him in 2019.
When asked if he wants to stay in Carolina, he didn’t need a second thought.
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” he said. “But you know, ain’t no telling what’s going to happen.”
He added: “The best thing I can do is be ready. So if it does turn out that they do want to keep me here, and I stay, I’m ready. And if it turns out that I have to go somewhere else, then I’m definitely ready for that too. As long as I’m ready for it at any angle, I’m fine with that.”
A difficult NFL season for Brian Burns
The 2023 season wasn’t an easy one for Burns, on the field or off it.
It began with tension toward the end of training camp between him and the organization. The pass rusher was on the fifth-year team option of his rookie contract, but desired to be among the highest paid pass rushers in the league — and that resulted in him missing two practices prior to the team’s season-opener as his representation tried, and failed, to agree with the Panthers on the terms of a contract extension.
Burns still elected to play in the season-opener. He played in almost every game thereafter, too — (He missed one game in concussion protocol — reasoning that he wanted to build this defense into something great and that “God got his hands on me.”
It was clear throughout the season, though, that the uncertainty of his future in Carolina lingered. He alluded to it again after the loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday.
“My mind was all over the place this season,” he told reporters Sunday evening. He later added, “Dealing with what I was dealing with in camp, I was terrified of getting hurt. And then you start dealing with injury, a lot of things play into your head.”
He was later asked if he was playing, at times, to not get hurt. His response: “I don’t want to say that. But in the back of my head, probably. Just being transparent. I wouldn’t say it’s something I’m proud of. But it’s human nature. Like, you see a lot of guys in these freak accidents, and dealing with what I was dealing with, it’s tough.”
Burns — who finished the season with 50 tackles, eight sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery — went on to say that he’d “never question his effort, but when you’re playing injured, it’s just not easy. But I ain’t never go out there and lacked (effort).”
Will Burns get the franchise tag?
Burns was also asked on Monday how the firing of general manager Scott Fitterer — who turned down two first-round picks and more from the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 for him — affected his future at Carolina.
He said that the move didn’t add any anxiety to his offseason because “we were still in the situation when he was here.” He also added, “I think there’s only so much that he could’ve done.”
For now, Burns still believes he’s worth being paid among the top edge rushers in the league. But those discussions, he admitted, aren’t the immediate priority.
It’s conceivable that the Panthers saddle Burns with the franchise tag, a special kind of one-year contract that locks a player into a non-negotiated salary for the upcoming season. It’s generally meant to lock up a key player for a year if long-term negotiations fall apart, but it often can be used to buy time to find a reasonable trade partner — a maneuver known as a “tag and trade.”
According to Over The Cap, the Panthers have just over $37 million in cap space in 2024. Burns was also asked if he thought the team had enough resources to keep the leaders on defense — which include fellow free agent and breakout linebacker Frankie Luvu.
“I don’t know,” Burns said. “I’m not really into numbers and the cap and all that, but I hope it’s enough to take care of all three of us (him, Luvu and interior defensive lineman Derrick Brown, who isn’t a free agent this offseason). I’m ready for whatever happens. Only thing I can do is control what I can control. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Haven’t heard anything yet.
“All I can do is train, and be prepared to either come back and have a great year, or go somewhere else and have a great year.”
