Chiefs Called NFC Team About First-Round Pass Rusher: Report

Ahead of the NFL’s November 1 trade deadline, there’s been conversation regarding if the Kansas City Chiefs will make a move to bring in another edge rusher.

Despite drafting first-round pick George Karlaftis, signing veteran Carlos Dunlap at the start of training camp, and having Chris Jones and Frank Clark, Kansas City ranks 24th in the NFL in sacks (5) and ranks 11th overall in pass rush grade by PFF through six games. Those numbers are simply not good enough for a defense that has a very young, inexperienced secondary.

That’s why the Chiefs have called one NFC team about potentially trading for another young, talented pass rusher.

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Chiefs Call Panthers About Burns

The Chiefs were one of three teams that have called the Carolina Panthers about trading for defensive end Brian Burns, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler during an edition of SportsCenter on Saturday, October 22. The other two teams were the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams.

While Kansas City’s interest in Burns is promising, there’s a catch: an NFL general manager said the Panthers want a minimum of two first-round picks in exchange for Burns, per Fowler.

Although the rate to acquire Burns is very high, there might be some wiggle room based on recent moves from Carolina.

Prior to trading running back Christian McCaffery to the San Francisco 49ers on October 20 in exchange for several draft picks — none of which were first-rounders — the Panthers reportedly said they would only trade McCaffery for a minimum of “multiple” first-round picks, according to Fox Sports’ Peter Schrager.

So, any team that wants to trade for Burns might not necessarily have to give up Day 1 draft capital to get the 24-year-old pass rusher.

Burns entered the league as the 16th overall pick by the Panthers in the 2019 NFL Draft. Since then, he has played in a total of 40 games for Carolina and has accumulated 61 quarterback hits, 29.5 sacks, and 32 tackles for loss, per Pro Football Reference.

Burns is the perfect addition to a contender that might be trying to sell out for the 2022 season and/or wants to add a first-round talent at a cheaper cost. The Panthers also picked up Burns’ fifth-year option in April, which gives any team trading for him another year to work out a long-term deal with Burns.

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Twitter Reacts to Chiefs’ Interest in Burns

Twitter users reacted to Kansas City’s interest in Brian Burns.

“The question you have to ask yourself is are the Chiefs EVER gonna be in position to draft an edge rusher like Brian Burns? No. They’d have to either trade or sign a player like that in free agency. Tough call lol,” one Twitter user wrote.

“The Chiefs will have the 2023 NFL Draft and we know that having a 1st round pick is something Clark Hunt very much wants,” another user wrote. “It would take a special player to be available for the Chiefs to convince Clark Hunt to let that 1st round pick go. Brian Burns could be that special player.”

“I would offer a 1st and a 2nd. Brian Burns is 24 and would change the way the Chiefs play defense imo,” another user wrote.

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