Potential Candidates For Panthers GM Job
To the surprise of many, the Panthers are in search of a new general manager. It’s too early to know who will be in the mix for the job, but speculation is already rampant among those in the know. Here are the early potential candidates for Carolina:
Seahawks executive Trent Kirchner spent eight years in Carolina as a scout and could be among those considered, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. Kirchner interviewed for the Colts and 49ers GM positions earlier this offseason before they went to Chris Ballard and John Lynch, respectively.- Titans director of player personnel Ryan Cowden and Panthers director of player personnel Don Gregory are two names to watch, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Cowden was among those to interview for the Chiefs vacancy this summer and spent 16 years working for the Panthers before joining Tennessee.
- The Panthers’ highest ranking personnel executive left in the building Mark Koncz, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter) notes. He was promoted to personnel director in May from pro director.
- It’s “just a hunch,” but Alex Marvez of The Sporting News (on Twitter) wouldn’t be surprised if former Chiefs GM John Dorsey ultimately becomes the Panthers’ next GM.
- The Panthers likely going to go with an interim GM rather than rush to a decision one month before the season starts, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer tweets. With that in mind, former GM Marty Hurney makes some sense. Hurney, who was relieved of his post as GM during the 2012 season, currently works for ESPN Radio in Charlotte. Under his watch, the Panthers drafted some of the team’s biggest stars, including Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis.
DeAngelo Williams: I’d Play For Panthers
Dave Gettleman is out as GM in Carolina and some former Panthers notables are in favor of the surprise firing. The latest to join the fray is former Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams, who previously said that the Panthers were one of four teams that he would refuse to play for in 2017. 
[RELATED: Panthers Fire GM Dave Gettleman]
“I want to publicly say [the Panthers are] off my list of teams I won’t play for due to the firing of that snake Dave Gettleman,” Williams tweeted.
The 34-year-old Williams spent the first nine seasons of his career in Carolina, but he left with a bad taste in his mouth after clashing with Gettleman. Cornerback Josh Norman and wide receiver Steve Smith left the Panthers with similar feelings and they also took to social media on Monday to celebrate Gettleman’s firing (Twitter links).
Panthers fans shouldn’t go dusting off their Williams jerseys just yet. The team is well stocked at the position with Jonathan Stewart, first round pick Christian McCaffrey, and second round pick Curtis Samuel leading the way. Familiar faces Fozzy Whittaker and Cameron Artis-Payne are also under contract.
Panthers Fire GM Dave Gettleman
The Panthers announced that they have fired GM Dave Gettleman. The news comes as a total shock, particularly since Gettleman was left in charge to oversee the draft and the main stages of free agency before his dismissal. 
“After much thought and a long evaluation of our football operations, I have decided to relieve Dave Gettleman of his duties as general manager,” Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said. “I want to thank Dave for the role he played in our success over the past four seasons. While the timing of this decision is not ideal, a change is needed.”
Like the Chiefs, the Panthers have shocked the football world by firing their GM late in the offseason. And, also like the Chiefs, they have already allowed a prime in-house candidate to leave for another team. Earlier this year, Brandon Beane left his post in Carolina as assistant GM to take over as the Bills’ new GM. In similar fashion, the Chiefs watched Chris Ballard take the Colts’ GM gig only to fire John Dorsey months later. The Chiefs went on to fill the vacancy by promoting Brett Veach to the top job. It remains to be seen whether the Panthers will immediately go in-house or if they will also consider outside candidates.
Whoever takes over for Gettleman, whether it be on a permanent or interim basis, will have to address some high-impact matters in the coming weeks. Gettleman was gearing up for extension talks with linebacker Thomas Davis and tight end Greg Olsen has been pushing for a revised contract. On top of that, someone will have to make the tough decisions as the Panthers trim down to a 53-man roster on Sept. 2.
The Panthers went 6-10 in 2016 after making the playoffs in each of Gettleman’s first three seasons with the team. He was scheduled to return from his Cape Cod vacation this week. Now, Gettleman may want to look into extending his trip.
Latest On Panthers TE Greg Olsen
When Panthers GM Dave Gettleman gets back from vacation this week, his first order of business will be to work on an extension with linebacker Thomas Davis, a source tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. Meanwhile, the team has not discussed a new deal with tight end Greg Olsen and Gettleman has yet to show any indication that he is willing to give him a reworked contract. 
Olsen is hoping for a new deal that will reflect his status as one of the game’s most productive tight ends. The 32-year-old is scheduled to earn base salaries of $6.5MM in the next two seasons while counting for $10.35MM and $9.75MM on the Panthers’ salary cap in those respective years. The three-year extension that Olsen signed prior to the 2015 season included a $12MM signing bonus, so the Panthers might not be so quick to give him additional money for the next two years.
Recently, when discussing his contract situation, Olsen did not rule out the possibility of a training camp holdout. Over the weekend, agent Drew Rosenhaus also hinted at the possibility, cautioning that players like Olsen do not want to “exercise” their “leverage” unless it’s necessary. If Olsen skips camp, he’ll be docked $40K for every day he misses.
Davis, 34, said earlier this summer that he is hoping for an extension that will take him beyond 2017. The veteran is coming off of his second straight Pro Bowl appearance after totaling 106 tackles, three picks, and two fumble recoveries.
NFL Window Nearly Closed For Greg Hardy
Greg Hardy was scheduled to participate in last weekend’s Spring League Showcase, but he did not take the field with the other NFL hopefuls in California. Instead, Hardy is choosing to focus on his MMA training, agent Drew Rosenhaus tells Mike Florio of PFT. 
Hardy still hopes to get a chance in the NFL, Rosenhaus says, but both the player and his rep are being realistic about the odds. The agent is hoping that the former Panthers and Cowboys defensive end will get a call from an interested team in the next month, but there’s no reason to think that there will suddenly be a groundswell of interest.
Hardy received zero bites from any teams last offseason after starting 12 games for the Cowboys in 2015. He’s now even further removed from live action but he’s just as toxic as he was before from a PR perspective. There’s also the matter of his perceived attitude problem. Even when he was bestowed with a second chance with the Cowboys, Hardy was reportedly irritable and frequently late for practice.
As talented as he is, teams feel they have little incentive to kick the tires on Hardy. Barring a miracle, it sounds like Hardy will be devoting himself to cage fighting full time rather than pursuing a return to the gridiron.
Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
Panthers Notes: Newton, Gano, Cotchery
Christian McCaffrey will be catching passes from Cam Newton this weekend and next, the Panthers rookie running back told the NFL Network’s Alex Flanagan (via NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman). It will mark a key step in Newton’s recovery from offseason shoulder surgery. The seventh-year quarterback threw his first passes of the offseason late last month and looks to be attempting to ramp up his activity in the days leading up to the Panthers’ training camp, which begins July 26. Newton underwent surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff in late March. Since, the Panthers added McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel in the first two rounds of the draft and picked up Charles Johnson and Russell Shepard in free agency.
Here’s the latest coming out of Charlotte as the NFC’s 2015 Super Bowl representative attempts to mount a resurgence after a rough follow-up season.
- Graham Gano underwent surgery this offseason to repair a broken bone in his plant foot, according to Jourdan Rodrique of the Charlotte Observer. The 30-year-old kicker missed eight field goals last season, his most since missing 10 with the 2011 Redskins, and the Panthers drafted Harrison Butker in the seventh round to compete. Out of Georgia Tech, Butker is the first kicker the Panthers have drafted in their 23-year history. Ron Rivera said he planned to bring in competition for Gano this offseason, and while he did, Rodrique expects Gano to be the Panthers’ kicker for a sixth season.
- Although Michael Oher plans to attend camp, the Panthers have not provided much to suggest he is in the team’s plans, Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer notes. Person also predicts the Panthers will sign Mike Adams after making the decision to cut Oher. A former Steelers starter, Adams last played with the Bears in 2016. Since the Bears placed Adams on IR in December, nothing’s emerged involving the 27-year-old tackle.
- Person expects Matt Kalil to take a step back toward his Pro Bowl rookie season of 2012. While the writer doesn’t believe Kalil will get back to Hawaii, he believes the five-year, $55MM deal won’t become a sunk cost. Kalil’s recovered from 2016 hip surgery, per Person, and obviously has his brother as a key sounding board now that he’s landed in Charlotte.
- Jerricho Cotchery is now working as an assistant wide receivers coach with the Panthers, with whom he played from 2014-15. The Panthers hired him this offseason, C. Jackson Cowart reports for the Charlotte Observer, and this season stands to be the 35-year-old’s first year of coaching. Cotchery played 12 NFL seasons — with the Jets, Steelers and Panthers — and carved out roles on seven playoff teams.
- One of Cotchery’s charges this offseason, UDFA wideout Austin Duke faces an uphill battle to make the Panthers’ roster. However, he did draw interest from the Falcons as a post-draft free agent, but he opted to sign with the Panthers on just a $1,000 signing bonus, per Cowart. The 5-foot-9 wideout caught 59 passes for 803 yards and four touchdowns with UNC-Charlotte last season.
- Agent Drew Rosenhaus did not rule out a holdout when discussing options for client Greg Olsen.
Latest On Greg Olsen Negotiations
We’ve heard whispers over the past month that Panthers tight end Greg Olsen was seeking a new contract, and the three-time Pro Bowler later suggested that he could consider holding out. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, discussed his client’s “leverage” during his appearance on PFT Live with Mike Florio yesterday.
“It’s still a one-sided negotiation,” Rosenhaus said. “I’m really hopeful that the Panthers organization will take a hard look at it. Greg’s a really unique player and a really unique person in the community. There are times when you would love for a team to look at a guy’s contract and renegotiate. As a player, you don’t want to exercise your leverage if you don’t have to. We want to keep things very positive, and hopefully the team comes around and can get something worked out.”
When asked outright if Olsen would hold out, Rosenhaus said “[t]hat’s something that Greg and I would have to continue to talk about.”
Back in 2015, Olsen signed a $22.5MM extension (with $12MM guaranteed) that would last through the 2018 season. Since that time, the tight end has averaged 78 catches, 1088 yards, and five touchdowns per year. The 32-year-old has a $10.35MM cap hit in 2017 and $9.75MM in 2018, although his “total cash earned” over the next two seasons is outside of the top-5 among the league’s tight ends.
Back in June, Olsen was adamant that negotiations were not contentious between the two sides.
“This is not by any means a toxic environment or a situation where the two sides seem fighting or anything like that,” he said. “Has nothing to do with that. It’s just strictly, business should reflect productivity, in our opinion.”
As our own Zach Links pointed out, the Panthers might be more willing to extend the tight end instead of reworking the final two years of his contract. This would allow the organization to have better control over his upcoming cap hits, and it’d also provide Olsen with some extra money (and future job security). On the flip side, the Panthers might just be content making one of their stars happy.
Latest On Panthers, Michael Oher
Michael Oher‘s future with the Panthers is up in the air. What we do know, however, is that he will be in camp with the team when it’s time to report at the end of July, ESPN.com’s David Newton hears. 
Panthers training camp gets underway on July 25 and Oher will be there, despite previous uncertainty from coach Ron Rivera.
“We’re going to go into training camp with the guys that we have,” Rivera said recently. “We’ll have 90 on our roster, and we’ll be ready to go with those guys.”
Oher was displaced from the starting left tackle spot when Matt Kalil was inked to a five-year, $55.5MM deal this offseason. The hope was that Oher could take over on the right side, but the Panthers could instead opt to cut ties with him, given all of his issues.
Oher entered into the NFL’s concussion protocol last September and, at last check, he has yet to be cleared. The tackle is also dealing with and personal issues and fallout from the alleged assault of an Uber driver in the spring.
No player in NFL history has ever spent this much time in concussion protocol and returned to the field. Soon, we should have some clarity on whether Oher will be the first.
Offseason In Review: Carolina Panthers
No NFL team experienced a more stark fall from grace last year than the Panthers, who went from a 15-1, NFC championship-winning juggernaut in 2015 to a bottom feeder in 2016. On the heels of a six-win, last-place season, Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman handed contracts to several household names, mostly on defense, and used the early portion of the draft to give quarterback Cam Newton more help.
Notable signings:
- Kawann Short, DT: Five years, $80.5MM. $35MM guaranteed. Had been assigned franchise tag.
- Matt Kalil, T: Five years, $55.5MM. $24MM guaranteed. $2MM available via incentives.
- Mario Addison, DE: Three years, $22.5MM. $9MM guaranteed.
- Captain Munnerlyn, CB: Four years, $17MM. $6.9MM guaranteed. $4MM available via incentives.
- Charles Johnson, DE: Two years, $8MM. $2.5MM guaranteed. $1.5MM available via incentives.
- Russell Shepard, WR: Three years, $10MM. $2.1MM guaranteed.
- Julius Peppers, DE: One year, $3.5MM. $1.65MM guaranteed.
- Mike Adams, S: Two years, $4.5MM. $1.2MM guaranteed.
- Fozzy Whittaker, RB: Two years, $2.5MM. $500K guaranteed.
- Wes Horton, DE: Two years, $2.7MM. $425K guaranteed.
- Colin Jones, S: Two years, $2.375MM. $400K guaranteed.
- Charles Johnson, WR: One year, $1.675MM. $325K guaranteed.
- Kyle Love, DT: Two years, $2.2MM. $200K guaranteed.
- Chris Scott, G: One year, minimum salary benefit. $80K guaranteed.
- Amini Silatolu, G: One year, minimum salary benefit. $80K guaranteed.
- Teddy Williams, CB: One year, minimum salary benefit. $80K guaranteed.
- Andrew Norwell, G: One year, $2.746MM. Signed second-round RFA tender.
- Darrel Young, FB: One year, $775K.
- Brenton Bersin, WR: One year, $690K.
Carolina’s defense finished anywhere from second to sixth in the league in scoring, yardage, sacks and DVOA two years ago, and while the unit’s dominance dropped off last season, it was still a formidable group. The Panthers ended up with the league’s second-most sacks (48) and a more-than-respectable DVOA ranking (10th), so Gettleman didn’t do anything extreme on that side of the ball. Three of his biggest moves included extending his premier defensive lineman, franchise-tagged tackle Kawann Short, on a whopper of a deal and re-upping dependable veteran ends Mario Addison and Charles Johnson for very reasonable money. Those three combined for 19.5 sacks last year, and they’ll have assistance from local favorite Julius Peppers in 2017.
Peppers, who attended North Carolina and starred with the Panthers from 2002-09, returned on a palatable contract. Age isn’t on the 37-year-old’s side, but the former Bear and Packer hasn’t recorded fewer than seven sacks in a season since 2007. Peppers logged 584 defensive snaps in Green Bay last season, his ninth straight 16-game campaign (11 starts), and Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a solid 35th among 109 edge defenders. Now, Peppers will replace the 25-year-old Kony Ealy, whom the Panthers sent with a third-round pick (No. 72) to the Patriots for a second-rounder (No. 64). Jettisoning a capable player in favor of one who’s 12 years his senior is clearly a risk, but it’s worth noting that Ealy’s running out of team control. Ealy will be a free agent next offseason, so if the Panthers weren’t expecting to re-sign the Super Bowl 50 standout, moving him for a slightly better draft selection and presumably upgrading for a year with Peppers isn’t unjustifiable.
Peppers wasn’t the only past Panthers defender whom they reunited with in free agency. Slot cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, a Panther from 2009-13, returned after a three-year stint in Minnesota. Like Peppers, Munnerlyn is back with gas remaining in the tank, with PFF’s Sam Monson noting that he yielded just one touchdown on 68 targets last season. At 29, Munnerlyn’s easily the elder statesman in a Panthers corner corps that lost Josh Norman a year ago and subsequently received encouraging performances from rookie starters James Bradberry and Daryl Worley. At the same time, the rest of Carolina’s CBs didn’t provide much, meaning Munnerlyn should be a welcome addition.
Another established newcomer, safety Mike Adams, will also have an important role in the Panthers’ secondary this year. Like Peppers, Addison, Johnson and Munnerlyn, the 36-year-old Adams is past a prime age, though he’s still an adept defender. Adams was PFF’s 19th-rated safety in 2016, when the then-Colt started in each of his appearances (15) for the third year in a row, intercepted two passes and forced a pair of fumbles. Playmaking has been the norm for Adams, who picked off 12 passes and forced seven fumbles during his three-year Indianapolis tenure. Barring an age-related decline, which certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility, he should be a better starting free safety option than predecessor Tre Boston, whom Carolina cut after it signed Adams.
While nearly all of the sizable contracts Gettleman doled out in free agency went to defenders, left tackle Matt Kalil received the largest deal of any new Panther. Matt Kalil is now teammates with his brother, starting center Ryan Kalil, but the former isn’t a lock to remain with the club beyond this year. If Carolina’s not impressed with Matt Kalil’s work, it’ll be able to void his contract – a scenario that doesn’t seem particularly far-fetched. After all, the 27-year-old was somewhat of a disappointment over the past few seasons in Minnesota, which selected him fourth overall in 2012. Kalil’s best trait during the first four seasons of his career may have been his durability, as he started in 64 straight games in that span. However, because of a hip injury, he didn’t play past Week 2 last year.
The good news for the Panthers is that Kalil’s health shouldn’t be an issue going forward. That isn’t necessarily the case with their previous No. 1 left tackle, Michael Oher, whom concussion issues have troubled since last September and who might not play again. Thanks in part to Oher’s 13-game absence in 2016, the Panthers’ protection of Newton took a step backward with Mike Remmers on the blindside (Remmers is now with Kalil’s old team, the Vikings). The Panthers obviously expect Kalil to outdo Remmers, though it’s far from a lock that he’ll warrant a large long-term investment.
DeAngelo Williams Rules Out Four Teams
Earlier this month, DeAngelo Williams told ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter that he wanted to continue playing in 2017. However, he said that there were four mystery teams he refused to play for. The running back has now revealed the identity of those teams (audio link). 
[RELATED: Finding A Fit For RB DeAngelo Williams]
Surprisingly, the Panthers are one of the teams that Williams says he will not sign with. The 34-year-old spent the first nine seasons of his career in Carolina, but he left there with a bad taste in his mouth because of the way his departure played out. He also said that he would not sign with the Cowboys, because he grew up a 49ers fan. The Browns and Jaguars, Williams says, are also not in consideration, because of their losing seasons. Williams was not exactly delicate as he broke down his reasons for crossing off each club.
“They don’t ever show up during the playoffs,” Williams said of the Cowboys. “They always disappear in the playoffs.”
In theory, that leaves 28 teams for Williams to possibly join this summer. However, his age and odometer are clearly working against him as we have heard little chatter around the veteran tailback. They say that beggars can’t be choosers, and Williams is being a chooser in the most unorthodox way by ruling out four teams that he could possibly join.
As of this writing, all four of the teams listed by Williams seem pretty well set at running back. However, if one of those clubs loses an RB to injury this summer, he may regret his words.