The Panthers ended their expansive GM search by hiring longtime Seahawks executive Scott Fitterer. While this will be a key jump for the veteran personnel man, he will transition from one organization where the head coach has considerable power to another.
Matt Rhule confirmed he will have control of Carolina’s roster, though the second-year HC indicated Fitterer will obviously have tremendous responsibilities in this area as well.
“I think in terms of on the contract, a lot of those things probably rest with me,” Rhule said, via Darin Gantt of Panthers.com. “But that’s not something I’m real interested in. I think it’s kind of a formality. Scott’s here to run the personnel. He’s here to build the roster. He’s here to establish the draft process. I think some things are written into the contract, but I think we’re going to work collaboratively and work together.”
Fitterer likened this situation as a Seahawks-esque partnership, where Pete Carroll and John Schneider work in tandem. Though Carroll maintains final say, which led to the Lions considering a Schneider pursuit earlier this year.
“In the beginning, Pete was really in charge. But through no egos and the collaboration and the trust and the deep conversations they’ve had, Pete has opened up, and it’s really a partnership. It’s really a marriage between the two, and I’ve never seen an argument between them,” Fitterer said.
“They can challenge each other; they can have discussions. But in the end, they’ve always been in lockstep, and I think that’s important for a GM and a coach to have. That’s what I think it’s going to be like here. Matt’s been great so far, and it’s only going to grow from here.”
Panthers owner David Tepper indicated he sought an experienced exec who could help Rhule while he acclimates to the NFL. Fitterer having worked with Carroll as he transitioned back to the pro game was a factor in the hire as well, Joe Person of The Athletic tweets. The Panthers gave Rhule a seven-year, $63MM deal in 2020, so it certainly makes sense they will entrust him with their biggest decisions.
Fitterer stopped short of committing to Teddy Bridgewater as the Panthers’ 2021 starter, though the new GM was not specific regarding many players. Fitterer did say he sought a quarterback “who could win with the game on the line in the fourth quarter,” and as ESPN.com’s David Newton points out, Bridgewater was 0-8 in games in which he had a go-ahead or game-tying drive chance on the final possession.
The Panthers are set to make a run at Deshaun Watson, if the Texans make him available. They also have the No. 7 overall pick, putting them in position to draft Bridgewater’s eventual successor.
Trade-downs may well be coming to the Panthers soon. The Seahawks have consistently used their late-first-round draft perches to move down and accumulate capital. Fitterer said a line of demarcation between drafts’ top-tier and second-tier prospects usually falls around picks 16-18 and that there are not major talent disparities between players who fall between Nos. 25-40 on respective big boards (Twitter link via Person). This approach, which will not apply this year considering the Panthers pick seventh, will come not long after the franchise went five drafts (2013-17) without ever trading down under Dave Gettleman.
‘Fitterer said a line of demarcation between drafts’ top-tier and second-tier prospects usually falls around picks 16-18 and that there are not major talent disparities between players who fall between Nos. 25-40 on respective big boards.’
There’s an endless list of top 15 picks that don’t pan out as well. The draft is a crap shoot.
George Allen would choose a veteran rather than draft a rookie prospect every day of the week and twice on Sunday but I don’t know if you can win with 15 players over the age of 30 anymore.
Last time I checked the Lions had the 7th pick in the draft.
Your right. Panthers pick 8th
Matt Rhules!
All these quotes strongly imply that the Panthers will look for their QB this year, and that Watson is the main target.
Fitterer seems to only really highly value top 15 picks, and will likely trade down any pick after that in the future (or at least strongly consider it). I don’t think that he expects a pick this high in the coming years. Therefore, he will use this pick for a quarterback-either in a trade package or a draft pick. It doesn’t sound like he thinks he can get a generational prospect late or midway through the first (ironic considering the team that he came from), and I think this pick has to last a while, so I don’t think that the first is in play for Stafford. It sounds like it’s Watson or draft a QB to me. Wilson? Fields (whomever is third at the position and sticks around)? f Jones is there instead, do they take him? We’ll see, but I’m convinced that this pick is used for a quarterback.
While I like Matt Rhule, I see his tenure in Carolina ending very poorly. He already made a bad decision by paying Bridgewater all that money and he neglected to add to his offense at all in last year’s draft. Now he’s going out of his way to show everyone that he has full control of the roster decisions too. As a year 2 NFL coach who only won 5 games in his first season, he’s awfully big for his britches! He needs to be promoting the team effort more and the ‘me effort’ less. If he doesn’t start winning soon, his act is going to get old very quickly in Carolina.
Agreed. Ask Bill O’Brien and John Gruden how their roster control is going.
I really don’t get all the issues with coaches having full control of the roster. At the end of the day, if the team sucks the coach is often the first one to get fired regardless if they are controlling the roster or they have a GM doing so. Having full control of the roster is basically the same as saying the coach makes the final 53 man roster decision (which most/all coaches should have since its their job to find the best 53 guys that fit their scheme).
That being said, a coach with “full control” should still have a good GM who can atleast take over some of the responsibilities. There’s very few instances across all sports where a single person having the coach/GM role works out well for them.
I think of Matt Rhule as a Coach first and GM Second. I think he did great for his first year. 5 Wins while missing the best RB In the League. And they lost 8 Games by one score so I feel like the future is bright for the Panthers. The Saints are going to be starting a retool/rebuild soon and the Falcons have began their rebuild so the time is perfect for the Panthers make it back to the playoffs. I felt like Teddy Bridgewater was okay but yea he was payed too much.
If I’m Deshaun Watson, the alarm bells have to be going off after hearing this. If he actually gets traded to Carolina, it may look like another BOB totalitarian regime… I sure hope Matt Rhule plays this situation wisely…
Very strange how much the Panthers have gone above and beyond for Rhule.