Brian Burns’s name was one that had been floating around the league prior to the NFL’s trade deadline at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
However, as the league’s trade deadline came and departed, Burns remained in a Panthers’ uniform. While it appeared that another team might land the talents of the 2021 Pro Bowler, Burns never allowed himself to get bogged down on a future that did not include Carolina in it.
Instead of watching the flurry of trades and deals on TV being made on Tuesday, he was focused on staying with his guys in Charlotte.
“I wasn’t too much looking for it [trade deadline],” Burns said to panthers.com on Thursday. “I wasn’t looking for it at all, you feel me? I want to stay, so I wasn't looking for it. …I love Charlotte. It would break my heart to leave my defense. … I feel like we've got something special on defense for sure.”
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Tuesday that the Rams offered the Panthers two first-round picks for Burns in hopes of upgrading their defense.
“The Rams made a massive offer, I’m talking about more than two first-round picks for Burns,” Breer said on the Kap and J. Hood show on ESPN Chicago radio.
But, Carolina turned down the offer for Burns as well as managed to keep its core of young defensive players together, which suggests that the Panthers believe they can build on their current defense.
“I think it says that they [Panthers’ leadership] see a lot of potential, but we’ve also done a lot of things together,” Burns said.
After a 37–34 overtime loss to the Falcons on Sunday, Carolina (2–6) turns its attention to a road matchup against the Bengals on Sunday. While Burns took accountability on a missed tackle against Atlanta quarterback Marcus Mariota in the game, interim defensive coordinator Al Holcomb said the game went beyond Burns’s miscue and praised the defensive end for his skills and eagerness to learn.
“Brian [Burns] is a fantastic player, love him. Glad we have him here,” Holcomb said. “His football IQ is really high… he understands the game at a high level. Not just his position but some of the positions around him.
“So when you're talking to him, it's almost like you're talking to another coach in a sense. He gets it.”
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