Giants to trade for Panthers' Brian Burns, agree to five-year, $150M deal with LB

The New York Giants are acquiring pass rusher Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Monday.

The Giants also did not waste a second to give Burns a new contract: a five-year deal worth a maximum of $150 million with $87.5 million guaranteed, per Rapoport and Garafolo.

Burns will get $76 million fully guaranteed when he signs his new deal, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported.

The Panthers, who used their franchise tag on Burns last week, will receive 2024 second- and fifth-round selections (Nos. 39 and 141 overall, respectively) and a 2025 conditional fifth-rounder in the trade, which cannot become official until the start of the league year on Wednesday. The Giants also receive a 2024 fifth-round pick (No. 166) in the deal.

The trade clears $24 million in cap room for the Panthers, per Over the Cap.

The Giants wanted to add to their pass rush, needing a bookend to pair with Kayvon Thibodeaux, who broke out with 11.5 sacks in 2023 while playing in all 17 games. But with Azeez Ojulari hurt for most of last season, the Giants totaled only 34 sacks, which were the fifth-fewest in the NFL.

The Panthers were one of the teams below them on that list with 27 sacks, and they ranked 29th in points allowed, although Burns wasn’t the issue there.

Burns, who turns 26 years old in April, was on the trade market a year ago – for a higher price tag – but the Panthers turned down offers for him. His production dropped off a bit, but Burns still led the team in sacks (eight) for a second straight year, adding 18 quarterback hits, 16 tackles for loss, two passes defensed and a forced fumble.

The Panthers resisted giving Burns a long-term deal. He played last season on the fifth-year option salary, sitting out a few preseason practices to try to leverage a new deal, but it never arrived.

The 16th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft has 46 sacks, 95 QB hits, 59 tackles for loss, eight forced fumbles and two recoveries (one TD return) in 80 career games (67 starts). He’s never missed more than one game in each of his five NFL seasons.

The Giants are set to lose free-agent running back Saquon Barkley to the rival Eagles. But they quickly pivoted to reach an agreement with running back Devin Singletaryand now are slated to add a major piece to their defense in Burns.