4 burning questions Carolina Panthers fans are asking ahead of Week 13 at Bucs

A change at general manager?

Do you expect a change at GM considering all the things that Fitts didn’t do? Who would be your ideal candidate to build us into legitimacy? Or is this one of those situations where we diehards are dealing with Jerry Jones 2.0 and should expect this chaos every 3 years? - Jason

Excellent question, Jason. Scott Fitterer’s absence at David Tepper’s press conference on Tuesday was noticeable. It was almost like a signal that he will likely be on his way out the door this offseason.

Tepper should finally be going into a complete regime change in hopes of pairing together a head coach and general manager who could build the Carolina Panthers into a winner, for once.

I’m an optimist, though some readers believe me to be an instigator of pessimism toward the team. I don’t think Tepper is trying to be Jerry Jones 2.0. However, he’s a businessman and should stick to that rather than worry about both the football operation and how many concerts he brings to Bank of America Stadium.

A few names come to mind when thinking of Fitterer’s replacement. The obvious is 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters. He’s had a big hand in San Francisco’s recent success in free agent and draft acquisitions. He would be the favorite for most.

Chiefs assistant Mike Borgonzi and Browns assistant Catherine Raiche would be the other two names I would consider for the Panthers' soon-to-be vacant general manager spot.

As a side note, it would be amazing to see Tepper hire Raiche as the first female general manager in league history. She has done a good job in Cleveland with Andrew Berry building the current roster they have at the moment.

Ed Dodds would be another favorite. He was in the running for the same gig when the spot first opened in 2021. Could things come full circle? We’ll have to wait and see.

The pairing of the general manager and head coach will be critical to the future success of this organization.