First year coach Dave Canales will not kick have to kick off his head-coaching tenure in Carolina by having to part ways with his best pass rusher.
The Panthers have slapped the franchise tag on linebacker Brian Burns, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday, the deadline for teams to use a tag. Carolina later confirmed and has since announced the news.
The move was anticipated after talks about a long-term deal, including a meeting with his agent last week at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, broke down.
“We love Brian,” new general manager Dan Morgan said at the combine. “Brian’s a Panther, somebody that I know and that I’m close to.”
Burns’ one-year tag will cost $24.007 million, a heavy price to pay to prevent the two-time Pro Bowler from testing greener pastures and getting courted in the free agency market.
The Panthers and Burns have two options and have until mid-July to either come to a long-term agreement or potentially settle on a modified one-year deal, as running backs Saquon Barkley of the New York Football Giants and Josh Jacobs with the Las Vegas Raiders did last offseason.
Embed from Getty ImagesOtherwise, Burns will play 2024 under the shadow and ghost of the tag, assuming he signs it on the dotted line.
Last preseason, Burns initially showed up to training camp and got after it despite favoring security over going into the campaign as a lame duck on his fifth-year rookie option with no buffer behind it. He later attempted to utilize his leverage by sitting out a handful of practices as the calendar turned to September and remaining non-committal on suiting up for the regular-season opener.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed, albeit in the absence of an extension, which has necessitated Carolina to slap another Band-Aid on the situation in the form of a one-year solution.
The Panthers were torched on defense last season on the way to allowing the 29th-most points in the NFL, but even if he did not reach the same heights as years past, Burns was far from being responsible.
He topped the unit in getting home to the quarterback for a second consecutive year with 8.0 and added 18 quarterback hits, 16 tackles for loss, two passes defensed and a forced fumble.
Entering his age-26 season, Burns now has 46 sacks in his career. He has also proven to be durable, never missing more than a game in any of his five years of NFL experience.
That does not mean his playing on the tag comes without risk. Injury can obviously strike at any time on the football field, and Burns has now been hoping for extra security in the lead-up to two seasons.
The goal remains to sign Burns to a long-term deal. However, he is not the only one. Carolina also wants to lock up free agent linebacker Frankie Luvu and sign defensive tackle Derrick Brown to a long-term deal.
Burns remains a Panther on a pricy franchise tag for now.
