Carolina Panthers: How much longer will new GM appointment take?
By Dean Jones
How much longer will a new Carolina Panthers general manager appointment take?
The Carolina Panthers have conducted plenty of interviews regarding their vacant general manager role. Owner David Tepper and head coach Matt Rhule cast a wide net regarding a potential incoming following the decision to fire Marty Hurney and they must come to a conclusion quickly to avoid further complications down the line.
As Rhule stated, this is an important offseason for the Carolina Panthers, to put it mildly. The foundations are there from which to build a potential contender in the coming years. But the decisions made in terms of recruitment during free agency and the 2021 NFL Draft will ultimately determine just how long this is going to take.
There is also the situation regarding current players to consider. Carolina has 25 players from their roster waiting to find out their fate in the weeks to come, which includes a clear need to extend stud right tackle Taylor Moton and try to put some sort of package together in order to retain wide receiver, Curtis Samuel.
The Carolina Panthers must get the right man.
Getting the right man will be crucial.
But waiting too long will be catastrophic.
The Panthers do know that at least one man they spoke with won’t be taking the job. Ed Dodds, who is the assistant GM of the Indianapolis Colts, withdrew his name from the race according to Colts insider Joel A. Erickson from the IndyStar, who didn’t cite a reason behind the candidate taking himself out of consideration.
This might be a blow.
But it all depends on whether the Panthers identified him as their preferred option.
There are plenty of other worthy individuals who could end up taking the job. Despite their 5-11 record in 2020, Carolina is an attractive project to be taking on and when one considers the ambitious plans Tepper has to progress the organization off the field, the pressure will be well and truly on the new GM to put together a roster that can quickly become serious challengers.
A daunting proposition? Maybe.
However, everything is in place for the new appointment – whomever that may be – to succeed.
Tepper wants a more analytical approach that simply wasn’t in keeping with Hurney’s more old-school methods. This seems to be all the rage across the NFL at the moment and although it doesn’t guarantee instant results, it does show that the owner is not afraid to move with the times in a bid to turnaround the team’s fortunes.
Coming to a decision like this doesn’t happen overnight. Interviews are conducted before conversations begin about who impressed and who didn’t. And this is all before a person of interest is approached to begin contract negotiations.
However, this does not detract from the fact that time is of the essence. The Panthers know they have to get the right man in at the earliest possible opportunity to ease their transition into the 2021 preparation period and ensure a clear, concise plan is put in place.
And make no mistake, the short and long-term future of the franchise is riding on this call.