Panthers News: Brian Burns, Chandler Zavala, Matt Corral and fatal flaws
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers OLB Brian Burns' situation
If anyone was expecting the Carolina Panthers and Brian Burns to reach an agreement regarding a new deal on Tuesday, they were out of luck. The star edge rusher and the organization remain at loggerheads regarding his bumper extension, which has led to speculation of a potential holdout in Week 1 at the Atlanta Falcons.
Teammates are rallying behind Burns and the large majority of fans want him to get paid handsomely. But the NFL is a business above all else and general manager Scott Fitterer clearly feels like slow-playing this saga until Nick Bosa's deal resets the market is the best course of action.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated doesn't expect Burns to sit out in Week 1 given that he remains around the team. The respected insider added that the former first-rounder has plenty of leverage and the Panthers' actions are also being monitored closely by others within the locker room looking for paydays of their own soon.
"There’s the matter of [Brian] Burns’s leverage, which comes down to his own knowledge of what Carolina turned down for him on the trade market last October. It’s tough for the Panthers to minimize Burns’s value to them based on what they turned down to keep him, and that’s a leverage point for the star pass rusher. There’s the fact that Carolina has a new coaching staff, and investment from the locker room is important as a result of that. And along those lines, other guys are watching how the team handles Burns. Do I think Burns will miss Sunday’s opener? No. But skipping practice does give everyone a look at how things look without him in Ejiro Evero’s new defense, and that can, for sure, have an effect on things. Now, the good news is the Panthers would like to get something done, and Burns had a great camp, and an artificial deadline is looming (Week 1). Stay tuned."
- Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated
Will Kunkel of FOX Houston stated on Tuesday that no progress had been made between Burns and the Panthers. We wait with bated breath to see what comes next.