NFL free agency is in full swing, and fans are voicing their approval and displeasure, including the fans who are country music stars with over a million followers on X.
The Carolina Panthers parted with star pass rusher Brian Burns on Monday by trading him to the New York Giants. In exchange, the Panthers receive a 2nd and 5th-round pick from New York.
The trade itself wasn’t all that surprising. However, the fact that the Panthers did not get a 1st-round pick back from the Giants did not sit well with many Carolina fans, and it didn’t sit well with counter music star and North Carolina native Luke Combs either.
“WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!?” Combs wrote. “No first round pick for [San Francisco 49ers running back Christian] McCaffrey a few years back and now none for Burns?!?!
“Are we just fire bombing the whole team here or what? I usually don’t comment on these kinds of things but it’s just becoming slow torture at this point.”
.@Panthers WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!? No first round pick for McCaffrey a few years back and now none for Burns?!?! Are we just fire bombing the whole team here or what? I usually don’t comment on these kinds of things but it’s just becoming slow torture at this point.
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) March 12, 2024
“The Giants sent the Panthers a 2024 second-round pick (No. 39 overall) and a 2025 fifth-found pick in exchange for the 25-year-old Burns,” the New York Post reported.
“The teams also swapped fifth-rounders for this year’s draft, with the Giants now selecting at No. 166 while the Panthers pick at No. 141.”
The trade Combs referenced regarding Christian McCaffrey occurred in 2022. The Panthers dealt the star running back to the 49ers for a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-round pick in 2023 and a 5th-round pick in 2024.
Since that trade, the 49ers have been to a Super Bowl, and the Panthers have been bad enough to have the 1st overall pick two years in a row. Another issue causing frustrations for Combs and Panthers fans like him is that the Panthers do not have their 1st round pick this year because of a trade with the Bears. So, Carolina could have helped themselves by landing a 1st-rounder for Burns.
Brian Burns, #0 of the Carolina Panthers, leaves the field after losing against the Minnesota Vikings at Bank of America Stadium on October 01, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
In reality, though, the Giants would have never done the deal if Carolina had insisted on 1st-round compensation. The fact that the Giants are done with Daniel Jones and very interested in at least preserving the possibility of selecting a QB with their 1st-round pick (6th overall) is one of the worst-kept secrets in all of football. Had Carolina insisted on a 1st-rounder, the Giants would have just told them to keep Burns.
A scenario Combs would have probably preferred.
