Panthers defensive end Brian Burns could be in Los Angeles right now. Or somewhere else for that matter. He remains in Carolina and is happy about it despite the team’s 2-6 record.
“I wasn’t too much looking for [a trade],” Burns said Thursday, via Darin Gantt of the team website. “I wasn’t looking for it at all. You feel me? I want to stay, so I wasn’t looking for it.
“I want to stay with my guys; I love Charlotte. It would break my heart to leave my defense. We’ve been so close, and I feel like we’ve got something special on defense for sure.”
The Rams reportedly offered their first-round selections in 2024 and 2025 for Burns, but the Panthers declined.
Burns, cornerback Jaycee Horn and defensive tackle Derrick Brown give the Panthers a lot of talent to build around on defense.
“I think it says that they see a lot of, I would say, potential, but we’ve also done a lot of things together, and this is a strong core,” Burns said. “And they believe in this core for the future. So I would say they believe in us and want to keep us together because we can do some great things together.”