Former Florida State football edge rusher Brian Burns shared a statement to the city of Charlotte after he was traded from the Panthers organization to the New York Giants. Burns had been with Carolina since he was drafted in 2019.
The Giants only gave up a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick and agreed to swap their fifth-round selections this year with the Panthers in order to receive Burns. In the process, they signed the Pro Bowler to a five-year/$141 million contract with $87.5 million guaranteed.
In his farewell post, Burns thanked the Panthers organization for “taking a chance” on him.
“First I want to Thank God, for all the [Blessings] I’ve received and Lessons I’ve learned during my tenure in Queen City. Thank you to the Carolina Panthers organization for taking a chance on me in [the] ‘19 Draft. Thank you and much love to my brothers, coaches, staff, fans, etc for making my 5 years here special.
“I’ll always love you Carolina,” wrote Burns.
In his already impressive five-year career in the NFL, Burns has recorded at least 7.5 sacks every season. What might be even more noteworthy is that he only started five games with the Panthers in 2019 and still reached the 7.5 sack threshold. In 2022 Burns had 12.5 sacks, a career year.
Furthermore, the edge rusher has 46 total sacks, 246 combined tackles, and 59 tackles for loss.
He had been one of the bright spots for the Panthers during his time in Charlotte despite the team going 24-59 since his arrival. The squad’s best record in that period was 7-10 in 2022.
CBS Sports gave the Giants an “A” rating for the trade and the Panthers a “C+” rating.
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