Brian Burns was still trying to sift through the range of emotions that were crashing over him after being traded from the Carolina Panthers to the New York Giants earlier this week. Still, one of the most prevalent feelings that rose to the forefront was giddiness.
“The moment is still a little surreal… Right now, I’m kind of all over the place,” he began. “I’m just a little giddy.”
The 25-year-old is making his way from one of the worst teams in football to one that is attempting to build its way out of a decade-long hole behind general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.
A vast re-tooling is well underway after a 6-11 season — the 10th time in the last 12 years that they’ve missed the playoffs — featured by the departures of Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney. But on the very same day New York lost its franchise running back and its best safety, they brought in a pair of offensive linemen to address one of the worst protection units in NFL history and Burns.
The deal and subsequent five-year, $150 million deal creates an even more imposing defensive front that features one of the best defensive tackles in the game in Dexter Lawrence and the still-developing Kayvon Thibodeaux, who posted 11.5 sacks in his sophomore season last year.
“New York has a ton of young pieces,” Burns said. “Looking down the line, I’ve got Dexter… Thibodeaux… but they’ve got dogs on the inside, they’ve got a dog behind them in [linebacker Bobby Okereke]. So, there’s a lot of talent on this team.”
Burns has been one of the top pass rushers in football since he was drafted by Carolina in 2019 with the 16th overall pick — just one pick before the Giants took Lawrence. Burns’ 46 sacks over the last five years rank 13th in the NFL during that span.
“They’re getting somebody that’s coming to work, always be professional, always be a pro, that’s number one,” he said. “Other than that, I’m coming to work, I’m relentless. They’re getting a playmaker. They’re just getting a guy that’s really going to enjoy the process, take it day by day. I really take a lot of pride in getting better. I feel like I can learn from a lot of cats, especially on this team. Other than that, I’m a team guy, always been a team guy. I’m a natural leader. I’m just ready to get to work and ready to get with these guys.”
Among the most tantalizing of partnerships to create within his new team is with Thibodeaux — the athletic edge rusher who can build his game further under the tutelage of Burns and with it, create a dynamic, relentless pair of pursuers on both ends of the Giants’ defensive line.
“I would say our body types are somewhat similar. Other than that, he can burn the edge, but I do know that he’s a little more prone to get into that long-arm, that power a little bit more,” Burns said of Thibodeaux. “I definitely think we could complement each other more in practice, because I feel like he could teach me some things, I could teach him some things, and we could really bounce ideas off of each other. That’s really how pass rushers come up with a lot of their moves and their plans for that week. I think that will be the main thing is the IQ.”
