The Carolina Panthers view Brian Burns as valuable – but not that valuable. 

It was reported that Burns and the Panthers remained far off from ever inking a true extension. That was due to Burns wanting a contract upwards of $30 million. It turns out the Panthers never saw Burns as a $ 30-million-level player. 

The Athletic reported that the difference for Burns was $3 million. Carolina was willing to go as high as $27 million a year for five years – that was it. 

"The Panthers were willing to go as high as five years at $27 million a year, according to a league source with knowledge of the contract talks," Joseph Person writes. 

With no extension, Burns sits in free-agent limbo. He remains a likely franchise tag, but he still wants to command top-edge rusher money. 

A team that has long seen Burns as a possibility for them is the Los Angeles Rams. 

If Burns had accepted a $27 million per year contract, he would have been in the top five of paid players at his position. 

Burns, likely to be franchise-tagged, is looking at a deal around $23 million, according to Over The Cap. 

The Panthers have until early March to figure out what exactly to do with the future of Burns.