6 key men who will be crucial for the Carolina Panthers in 2022 draft
By Dean Jones
David Tepper – Carolina Panthers owner
It’s been a turbulent offseason period for David Tepper. He has refused to discuss the Carolina Panthers in front of the media throughout after deciding to move forward with Matt Rhule, which only highlighted the level of disengagement between the owner and the fans that once lauded his arrival.
Tepper’s focused his attention on Charlotte FC, who’ve made a solid start to life in Major League Soccer. The farcical situation surrounding the Panthers’ development at Rock Hill coming to an abrupt halt only calls into question what the billionaire has planned for the franchise long-term.
Having an influential owner in the draft war room is not ideal.
Football decisions should be left to football guys, after all.
However, that will not stop Tepper from making his presence felt in the decision-making process no matter how unwelcome it might be.
Having a pushy owner trying to sway certain outcomes without doing much in the way of proper evaluations is a difficult proposition for the Panthers to overcome. Even though Tepper will no doubt try and stamp his authority on proceedings to get what he wants.
This has the potential to cause more complications. So it will be interesting to see if Tepper starts pulling rank to land someone like Kenny Pickett, who comes from the owner’s alma mater, Pittsburgh.