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. 

Panthers’ relationship with Brian Burns may be worse than initially believed following recent report

It turns out the Carolina Panthers and star outside linebacker Brian Burns aren’t the happiest with each other.