In his training camp takeaways from Spartanburg almost one month ago, ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler noted that linebacker Brian Burns and the Carolina Panthers were not close on a contract extension. Well, the situation may not have gained much, if any traction since.
Fowler gave us an update on the talks during Saturday’s edition of SportsCenter. And, uh, it’s actually not much of an update at all.
Buy Panthers Tickets“They’ve been talkin’ for months. They are not at all close on a deal,” he said. “He’s gonna play games. But, yeah, frustration could boil over a little bit here eventually. This is an elite player.”
Perhaps something boiled over this past week, when a healthy and present Burns did not participate in Thursday’s practice. When asked if the two-time Pro Bowler’s decision to sit out was contract related, head coach Frank Reich declined to get into detail.
“I’ll just refer that to Brian,” he told reporters. “It’s impossible for me to have more respect than I do for Brian. So, that’s his personal matters.”
