If the Los Angeles Rams don’t land a pass rusher before Tuesday’s trade deadline, it won’t be for a lack of trying. They haven’t just shown interest in Panthers stud Brian Burns, they made an offer for him.
Buy Rams TicketsAccording to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, it was a “substantial” one, too. Breer didn’t say what the offer was and it’s likely he doesn’t know the details, but the fact that the Rams made a sizable pitch to the Panthers is certainly notable.
The usual suspects have been in pursuit. The Rams have been looking for a pass rusher to replace the production they lost with Von Miller’s departure, have first-rounders in 2024 and ’25, and already made a substantial offer for Burns.
It was previously reported that the Panthers turned down two first-round picks for Burns, being reluctant to trade the young pass rusher. It can’t be ruled out that the Rams were the team to make that offer, especially considering the earliest first-round picks they could offer are in 2024 and 2025, not 2023; their upcoming first-rounder was included in the Matthew Stafford trade.
If the Panthers did turn down two firsts for Burns, it’ll be hard for the Rams to land him. They’re already without first- and fourth-round picks in 2023, and continuing to trade bundles of picks for players who are or will be highly paid is tough to do.
But they’ve made it clear that they want to win another Super Bowl this year, even if that means giving up valuable picks like they were willing to do for Christian McCaffrey and Burns.
One other thing to note from Breer’s column is that Taylor Rapp and Terrell Burgess “could be had,” and David Long Jr. “is another name to watch.” Burgess hardly plays but Rapp and Long have been starters when healthy.
