Brian Burns

Veteran edge-rusher Brian Burns believes opponents of the New York Giants will have their hands full when attempting to neutralize a front seven that includes he, Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux.

The Giants acquired Burns from the Carolina Panthers this offseason and signed him to a five-year, $141 million extension.

At Lawrence's charity softball game, the two-time Pro Bowler said he was "shocked" upon first learning of the trade and called it a "pleasant surprise."

Burns added he's enthusiastic about his new setting because Lawrence "commands a lot" of attention on the interior the line.

"I'm excited for it because I know they really have to key in on him, and also having somebody opposite of me, they're pretty much going to have to pick their poison on who they're going to key or slide to," he said. "With Dex demanding so much attention and Kayvon also demanding attention, it's going to free us up a lot."

Burns had a somewhat down year in 2023. His eight sacks were his fewest since his rookie year (2019), though he finished 11th in ESPN's pass-rush win rate metric.

Life should be much easier in the Big Apple.

Lawrence was a Pro Bowler for the second straight year, and Pro Football Focus ranked him as the eighth-best player overall from last season. Few interior linemen are better at collapsing the pocket.

And standing opposite Burns will be Thibodeaux, who made a big leap in Year 2. His sack total improved from four as a rookie to 11.5.

It's easy to see who Burns is so assured on how good the Giants defense will be.

The 2023 New York Giants were an unmitigated disaster.

The team went into last season with high expectations after making the playoffs the year prior, but those aspirations quickly went down the drain. Daniel Jones struggled and eventually was lost for the season with a torn ACL, the team started just 2-8 and eventually limped to a 6-11 record.

The offseason didn't start off much better, as the team's top two free agents—running back Saquon Barkley and safety Xavier McKinney—left the team, with Barkley's departure stinging in particular after he signed with New York's hated rival, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Giants feel like a team in flux. Let's take a look at the schedule they'll have to navigate as they look to rebound from last season's mess.

2024 New York Giants Schedule

Analysis

The Giants pivoted well after the losses of Barkley and McKinney. Landing Brian Burns for second- and fifth-round picks, alongside of a fifth-round pick swap, was fantastic business. The trio of Burns, Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux gives the Giants a nasty pass-rushing trio.

The team then fortified the offensive line with Jon Runyan Jr. and Jermaine Eluemunor, replaced Barkley with Devin Singletary—which was a downgrade but still filled a need—and had a solid draft, highlighted by the selections of game-changing wideout Malik Nabers, a pair of defensive backs in Tyler Nubin and Phillips, a new tight end in Theo Johnson and a speedy running back in Tyrone Tracy.

The question in New York remains the biggest one an NFL team can face—how will the quarterback fare? Daniel Jones hasn't looked like a true franchise option to this point in his career, and backup Drew Lock isn't much of a contingency plan.

Having a rough 2024 wouldn't be the worst outcome for the Giants from a team-building perspective, potentially putting them in a position to draft a major talent in next year's draft. Ideally, however, Jones would take a big step this season, especially since he still has three seasons left on the ill-advised four-year, $160 million extension the team signed him to in March 2023.

He won't be leading New York through an easy schedule—the Giants have eight games against teams who made the playoffs a year ago. And a number of teams who didn't fall into that category, like the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons, should be improved in 2024.

Pivotal Matchups

The Giants chose against selecting a quarterback position with the No. 6 pick, opting for Nabers, but they potentially will get a first-hand account of what they bypassed when the Minnesota Vikings come to town. New Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was one of the players linked to the Giants in the pre-draft process, and you can bet New York fans will be eager to see what the former Michigan man looks like this season (if he beats out Sam Darnold for the starting gig).

The Giants also chose to pass on Michael Penix Jr. in the first round, and he went two picks later to the Atlanta Falcons. It's unlikely Giants fans will get a look at the former Washington man this season, however—he's set to be Kirk Cousins' backup.

As always, the NFC East matchups will be tight, heated affairs. Even in a major down year for the Giants, they still managed to go 3-3 in the division last year.

Of particular note will be the two contests with the Eagles, with Barkley facing his former team. New York fans would surely be ecstatic if the Giants could shut down the star running back and steal a win or two against the Birds.

The Giants did so last year on the final week of the season, continuing Philly's miserable nosedive to mediocrity after a 10-1 start. Barkley's departure to the City of Brotherly Love will only add further fuel to the rivalry.

The Carolina Panthers are reportedly shipping away one of their best defensive players.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Panthers have traded star defensive end Brian Burns to the New York Giants. He will now sign a five-year contract with the Giants worth $150 million, including $87.5 million guaranteed.

Carolina will receive a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.

The Panthers placed the nonexclusive tag on Burns prior to the deadline, guaranteeing him $24 million for the 2024 season. The two sides had until mid-July to negotiate a long-term contract, but Carolina ultimately decided its best course was to trade him.

The 16th pick in the 2019 NFL draft, Burns quickly emerged as one of the top pass-rushers in the league. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2022, posting a career-high 12.5 sacks in the latter.

ESPN's David Newton noted that the Panthers had tried to sign Burns to an extension before talks broke down in September. Burns reportedly was seeking a contract with an average value of $30 million per year.

However, the 25-year-old saw a dip in production this past season, finishing with 50 total tackles and eight sacks. Still, Burns made it clear that he wanted to be paid among the top edge-rushers.

"Given our circumstances, it is what it is," Burns said after the 2023 season. "But my feeling never changed from that point to now, because I put the work in four years prior to this."

After departing a Carolina team that finished with the worst record in the league at 2-15 last season, Burns should be excited to make his mark with the Giants. He will be a solid addition to a defensive front that includes Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence II.

There is "mutual interest" between Carolina Panthers star pass-rusher Brian Burns and the New York Giants regarding a trade, according to SNY's Connor Hughes.

Burns has earned Pro Bowl nods in two of the past three seasons, recording 29.5 total sacks in the previous three years while missing just two games.

The Panthers placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on the 25-year-old worth roughly $24 million on March 5, although the team could still attempt to trade him.

This came two days after Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reported that the team informed Burns that long-term contract talks would not be continuing.

If a trade is ultimately worked out between the Panthers and the Giants, it'll be interesting to see the return package. Anderson previously revealed that Carolina could receive a third-round pick in return for Burns if the acquiring team is also giving him a long-term contract.

The Panthers have been hesitant in the past to move the 2019 No. 16 overall selection, turning down a reported offer of two first-round picks in 2022. However, his cap situation and uncertain future with the team have likely made Carolina's front office more willing to entertain trade talks moving forward.

If a deal is eventually completed, Burns would provide a boost to a Giants defensive line that has struggled with getting production from players not named Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence. Despite the former racking up 11.5 sacks in his breakout 2023 campaign, New York accumulated just 34 total sacks. That was tied for the fourth-worst mark among all teams.

Burns would also bring consistency to the Giants defense, as he's recorded at least 7.5 sacks in every season of his career.