4 biggest winners from the Carolina Panthers 2021 offseason so far
By Dean Jones
Brian Burns – Carolina Panthers DE
Brian Burns was one of the bright spots for the Carolina Panthers last season. The former first-round pick developed into a three-down defensive end that can wreak havoc at any given moment, with his explosiveness off the block something that is incredibly hard to stop for even the best tackles in the business.
One glaring need for the Panthers this offseason was getting more help across their front seven. Carolina struggled to generate pressure throughout most of the campaign if it wasn’t coming from Burns, which enabled opposing protection schemes to focus more attention his way without having to worry too much about what was coming from the other side.
This did not go unnoticed by the Panthers, who spent the large majority of their spare resources in free agency bolstering the defensive front. Haason Reddick was the marquee signing that will line up with Burns on the edge, with the player looking to build on a 12.5 sack campaign with the Arizona Cardinals in 2020.
Couple this with three-technique Morgan Fox joining the fold, a stout run presence in DaQuan Jones, and an exciting rookie in Daviyon Nixon also coming onto the rotation, this could go from a weakness to an area of real strength for Carolina next season.
Derrick Brown and Yetur Gross-Matos should also bring their respective games on after encouraging rookie campaigns. If they can do this, then Burns might be in for the sort of year that propels him to the Pro Bowl.