The Giants didn’t pay record amounts of money for a slow Burns, a sick Burns, or a frozen Burns.
While Daniel Jones’ return from a torn ACL and Malik Nabers replacing Saquon Barkley as the offensive focal point might be the talking points of the early days of training camp, pass rusher Brian Burns is about to find out that effort, durability and production are constantly judged under New York’s microscope.
The Giants believe he is the perfect candidate to check all three boxes.
General manager Joe Schoen’s decision to acquire Burns and sign him to the largest defensive contract in franchise history (five years, $141.5 million) is a ripple effect that extends into the rest of the offseason (particularly the second round of the NFL draft) that ends Tuesday when veterans report to camp.
The pressure is on Schoen to make the trade result better than the other high-profile decision of his three-year tenure: re-signing Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract extension in 2023.
And it’s up to Burns (the NFL’s third-highest-paid defender but the 10th-best, according to a recent ESPN survey of league sources) to counter a recent history of disappointing introductory seasons by the Giants’ big-time additions.
Under former general manager Dave Gettleman, Nate Solder never recovered from allowing seven sacks in 2018.
The same goes for Golden Tate after his four-game suspension for PEDs in early 2019.
And for Kenny Golladay after complaining about plays during his second game and subsequently spending three weeks out with a knee injury.
As good as Schoen’s signing of iron man Bobby Okereke after one season looked, trade acquisition Darren Waller will be remembered for missing five games due to injury and scoring just one touchdown at a one-year cost of $12.1 million before retiring.
There was a time when the Giants made Olivier Vernon the highest-paid fullback in the NFL ($52 million guaranteed in 2016) and he struggled to satisfy restless fans even with 22 sacks in 39 games.
Like Burns, Vernon was more of an all-rounder in all situations than a terrifying sack monster.
“The first thing out of a fan’s mouth is, ‘He’s making X amount of dollars and he’s not doing this or that. A guy making that amount of money should be able to overcome this or lead his team forward,’” one former Giants player told The Post.
The Giants believe Burns, 26, is different from past failures, as assistant general manager Brandon Brown explained on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
“It’s rare that a quarterback comes on the market who has good character and is also young (under 28) and has production,” Brown told Schoen. “We all feel good about him continuing to move up.”
That’s why Schoen agreed to trade the higher of his two second-round picks and include a fifth-round pick and a separate fifth-round pick swap.
It sounds like a bargain considering the Panthers once turned down two first-round picks from the Rams in exchange for Burns, but every decision comes with a price.
League sources believe Schoen would have selected a cornerback if the premium asset traded for Burns had been the 47th pick instead of the 39th.
The Giants showed significant interest in Kool-Aid McKinstry (No. 41 to the Saints) and Kamari Lassiter (No. 42 to the Texans), league sources said, but both were selected at the time Schoen moved to the first safety on the draft board (Tyler Nubin) at No. 47 and a slot cornerback (Dru Phillips) at No. 70.
Nubin, who head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen seemed excited about on “Hard Knocks,” will be locked in a position battle with Dane Belton over the summer, while outside cornerback Cor’Dale Flott might not have a challenger for the starting spot.
Schoen’s plan is for Burns to be best friends with Flott, Nubin, Phillips and cornerback Deonte Banks in his second NFL season.
Burns will team with Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, but will likely relegate oft-injured former second-round pick Azeez Ojulari to a reduced role.
Any attempt by Daboll to downplay the importance of sacks if the vaunted pass rush gets off to a slow start will likely be met with a reminder that television footage shows he asked Schoen about Burns’ sack history (46 in 80 career games) and not his number of pocket pressures when considering the trade.
But if he can increase that pace under his new contract, the Giants will have a new piece to shine.
