Whoever the new GM in Carolina will be will have a lot of difficult decisions to make right off the bat. Obviously, he will be tasked with fixing the offensive line and providing more weapons for quarterback Bryce Young but there are some key internal decisions that have to be made as well.
Does Brian Burns get the money he wants to stay in Carolina? Does he get franchised? Do they let him walk free? And then there's also the decision on cornerback Jaycee Horn's fifth-year option.
"The Panthers will be unable to reach a new contract deal with Burns, forcing them to use the franchise tag to keep him around for 2024. They will also turn down the 2025 fifth-year option for cornerback Jaycee Horn because of his inability to stay healthy."
Burns and former GM Scott Fitterer never came close to agreeing on an extension but with a new decision-maker set to enter the building, it could give the two sides a fresh start in the negotiations.
"If they do keep the core of my guys on the defense together...there's so much that we didn't get to do that I want to do with those guys," Burns told reporters last week. "But like I said, it's a business. It could go any which way, so I just got to be ready and control what I can control."
As for Horn, he's played in just 29 of the 51 possible games in his first three years in the league. Health is really the only concern with him. When he's been on the field, he's lived up to the billing of a top ten pick.
"I love going to battle with those guys and seeing how they compete day in and day out," Horn said about pending free agents Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu. "I hope we're able to bring them back and keep the defense together because we showed we're a top defense. We feel like we're a playoff defense. We're a Super Bowl defense."
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