Panthers rejected massive NFL trade offer that included two first-round picks for star player, report says

The Panthers have already made a successful trade in the past 48 hours and it looks like they could have made a second, but that didn’t happen because the team decided to turn down a massive offer for the Panthers. defensive end Brian Burns.

According to ESPN.com, a team offered TWO first-round picks for Burns, but the Panthers rejected the deal. After trading Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers on Thursday, there was speculation that the Panthers might have a fire sale before the Nov. 1 trade deadline, but that’s clearly not the case because if that were to happen, they reportedly jumped all over the offer for Burns.

The Panthers got a series of draft picks in exchange for McCaffrey the 49ers sending Carolina three picks in 2023 (a second round, third round, and fourth round) as well as one pick in 2024 (fifth round).

The McCaffrey deal came just three days after the Panthers completed another trade with Carolina sending disgruntled receiver Robbie Anderson to Arizona in trade for two other draft picks (sixth-round pick in 2024 and a seventh-round pick in 2025).

Of course, those picks pale in comparison to what the Panthers would have gotten for Burns. The Panthers are clearly rebuilding and getting two first-round picks would certainly have helped, but the team wasn’t willing to part ways with Burns, who is considered the cornerstone of the defense. Burns, the 16th overall pick in the 2019 draft, has had 9 sacks each of the past two seasons after going 7.5 as a rookie. A Pro Bowler last year, CBS Sports named him one of the top 25 players under 25 this offseason.

Following McCaffrey’s trade, general manager Scott Fitterer said the team would always listen to trade offers, but would not be willing to give up someone like Burns unless he got an offer. “astronomical”.

“Philosophically, we’re still listening. We’ve had calls. We’ve said no to everyone,” Fitterer said Friday, via the Panthers’ official website. “I think there are certain players in this team; we like the very young core of our team. We are building. This is not a situation where we are trying to sell. We are trying to add players to this already really good young mix.”

Fitterer gave the impression that players like Burns and defensive tackle Derrick Brown would definitely not be traded.

“I want these guys here,” Fitterer said. “These are guys we win with going forward.”

Despite Fitterer’s words, trading Burns before the deadline might have made sense. The fourth-year player, who was selected with the 16th overall pick in 2019, will likely get a massive contract extension after the 2022 season, which will make him one of the highest-paid defensive ends in the NFL. Even if that extension didn’t happen, Burns’ salary would drop from $2.3 million in 2022 to $16 million in 2023, matching his salary rate for the fifth-year option of his contract. Instead of taking the big cap shot, the Panthers could have picked up two first-round picks, which would have actually saved them some money, because two draft picks would almost certainly be cheaper than whatever. Burns would eventually sign.

The Panthers have obviously given this some thought, and they clearly feel Burns is worth more to them than two first rounds.