Five-Year Pro Defensive End Gets Franchise-Tagged Hours Before the Deadline
Brian Burns is coming back! The two-time Pro Bowl-selected defensive end is getting franchise-tagged by the Panthers right before the franchise tag deadline. Since being drafted by the Carolina Panthers in 2019, five-year pro defensive end Brian Burns has continued to be great on the field and a huge piece of Carolina’s defense. In the 2023 season, the Panthers were without a doubt statistically speaking the worst team in the NFL, however, Burns was still a bright spot on their team nonetheless.
From 2016-2018, Brian Burns played college ball at Florida State University, before forgoing his senior season to enter the 2019 NFL Draft. During his time with the Seminoles in his three seasons, Burns started all 38 games. In his first season, he led all freshmen in the country with eight and a half sacks on the season and in his second and third seasons he recorded 48 tackles and four and a half sacks and 52 tackles and ten sacks, respectively. In the 2019 NFL Draft, the future five-year defensive end was selected as the 16th overall pick during the first round. Between his first and second seasons, Brian played 31 games but made a jump during his second year increasing his first season totals of 25 combined tackles, 19 solo and six assisted, to 58 combined tackles, 35 solo, and 23 assisted. He has continued to get better and in 2022 we saw him at his best overall as he finished the season with 58 combined tackles, 34 solo and 29 assisted, as well as 12.5 sacks.
Burns played in 16 games for the Panthers in 2023. He had 50 combined tackles, 32 solo tackles, and 18 assisted tackles, while also recording 16 tackles for loss of yardage, eight sacks, and two pass deflections. In the Carolina Panthers' first game of the 2023 season versus the Atlanta Falcons on September 10th, the Panthers may have fallen short 24-10 but Burns did everything in his power to get them a victory as the five-year defensive end put up seven combined tackles, five solo and two assisted, with two tackles for a loss of yardage, and two sacks. Brian has the chance to stand out with the Panthers while truly making a difference for a better team than he has had the privilege to play for.
