Giants GM Joe Schoen made a huge commitment to Carolina Panthers pass rusher Brian Burns on Monday with a blockbuster trade and contract.
The Giants sent their No. 39 overall second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-rounder to Carolina, plus did a fifth-round pick swap, to acquire the two-time Pro Bowler.
And they agreed to pay Burns a whopping five-year, $150 million contract with $87.5 million guaranteed to complete the deal.
It marked a major move by a desperate and aggressive team. The Giants also reportedly showed interest in Jets pass rusher Bryce Huff before he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Burns’ $30 million annual average is now the second-highest in the NFL behind only the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa’s $34 million average.
Burns, 25, is a former first-round pick out of Florida State who posted 46 sacks in five years with Carolina, including eight last season. He has been notably durable, as well, playing in 49 of 51 possible regular season games the past three seasons.
The Giants let free safety and captain Xavier McKinney walk to a big payday of his own with the Green Bay Packers on a four-year, $68 million contract at $17 million.
That was on top of losing Saquon Barkley to the hated rival Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million deal with $26 million fully guaranteed.
But Schoen let those players out with an eye on using his resources to upgrade his offensive and defensive fronts.
The GM moved for Burns instead of Minnesota Vikings free agent Danielle Hunter, 29, who had 16.5 sacks last season but is four years older.
Schoen now has Burns, Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the defensive line. And his signings of Packers right guard Jon Runyan Jr. and Raiders right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor began addressing the team’s true Achilles heel: its offensive line.
The Giants GM found a willing trade partner in a familiar face, new Panthers GM Dan Morgan.
Schoen was on Carolina’s scouting staff when Morgan was a Panthers player, and then they worked together in the Buffalo Bills’ front office under Brandon Beane.
Schoen needs to show progress in year three with the franchise, and getting Burns might help him do that. The Giants, after all, have always relied on a top-flight pass rush when they have won.
The Panthers once rejected a trade offer for Burns from the L.A. Rams that included two first-round picks and a second-rounder in the fall of 2022. So this return is far from that.
But the Giants were willing to pay Burns the contract he was seeking, in addition to parting with draft capital to get it done.
Schoen traded away something close to the package that he acquired from Seattle at last fall’s trade deadline in exchange for interior pass rusher Leonard Williams.
He did part ways with his own second-round pick, though, not Seattle’s at No. 47. So he landed a proven player at a premium position but also removed key capital from April’s draft.
That’s what it costs to improve a team, though, especially to buy production for the immediate future in 2024. That’s when the Giants need to get better: right now.
