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'Hard Knocks' Clip Shows Giants' Joe Schoen Refusing to Budge in Brian Burns Trade Talks

The Giants acquired LB Brian Burns in a trade with the Panthers back in March.

Tim Capurso

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen on the phone with Carolina Panthers general manager and president of football operations Dan Morgan during an episode of HBO's Hard Knocks.
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen on the phone with Carolina Panthers general manager and president of football operations Dan Morgan during an episode of HBO's Hard Knocks. / Screengrab Twitter @Giants
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The New York Giants pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers for two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Brian Burns back in March, but not before Giants general manager Joe Schoen had to put his foot down.

In a preview of a new episode of HBO's Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants, which will air on Tuesday night, Schoen makes a goal-line stand in the final trade negotiations with Panthers general manager and president of football operations Dan Morgan.

The clip features Schoen speaking on the phone with Morgan, who attempted, to no avail, to obtain an additional seventh-round pick out of the Giants in the Burns trade.

"Oh my God," Schoen exclaimed. "What are we—What are we doing, Dan? Why do we need to add on a seventh, Dan? Like, come on. You and I are going to be doing this for a long time ... hopefully ... And, like, we gotta have allies.

"I don't want to throw in a seventh. Like, I need players too, Dan. I mean, we're picking six. You guys would be picking one. Like, let's just do what we said on the last one. I mean, that works out. We met you in the middle with some of your demands."

The ending of the clip shows Schoen and Morgan coming to an agreement on the deal, with the former requesting to have Burns's phone number so he could reach out to him.

New York acquired Burns from Carolina in exchange for a '24 second-round draft pick, a '25 fifth-round pick and a swap of '24 fifth-rounders. The Giants then inked a five-year, $150 million contract with Burns, who they hope will revitalize a pass rush that has been among the league's worst the past few seasons.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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