The Carolina Panthers placed the franchise tag on pass rusher Brian Burns, but the non-exclusive marker means he is free to discuss a deal with any team when free agency begins next week.
Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET is the deadline for teams to apply franchise and transition tags, which restrict pending free agents from hitting the open market without refusal rights.
The two sides were unable to work out a long-term contract since discussions began more than a year ago.
Burns has 46 career sacks, including eight last season, but reportedly requested a salary of $30 million to be among the league’s highest-paid defensive players.
First-year Panthers general manager Dan Morgan walked into a hornet’s nest with Burns and his agent, who had an acrimonious relationship with the previous regime. Burns considered a “hold-in” last summer, whereby he would sit out training camp workouts but report to the team in hopes of coaxing a deal out of then-GM Scott Fitterer.
Morgan, who was Fitterer’s right-hand man and a business ally dating to their time in the Seattle Seahawks’ scouting department, said at the NFL Scouting Combine last week that he was leaving all options open with Burns.
“We would definitely use it if we had to use it,” Morgan said of the franchise tag option. “We love Brian. Brian’s a Panther. Somebody that I know, that I’m close to. I played with his brother. So, definitely love Brian. But all options are on the table.”
Burns, 25, is assured $24 million as a minimum salary for the 2024 season. The Panthers could explore a trade to enrich a shallow pool of draft picks.
Carolina doesn’t have a pick in the first round of the draft despite a 2-15 record in 2023. The Panthers owed the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft to the Chicago Bears as payment for a trade last March 10 to acquire the top pick in the 2023 draft, used to select quarterback Bryce Young.
