Panthers fire GM Gettleman two weeks before camp opens
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just over a week before training camp opens, the Carolina Panthers have no general manager. And no president.
The National Football League team that faded from a Super Bowl spot to a losing season in 2016 fired Dave Gettleman on Monday, eight days before the Panthers get down to pre-season business. They already were without a team president after Danny Morrison resigned in February.
Owner Jerry Richardson said in a statement he made the decision after a long evaluation of the team’s football operations. “While the timing of this decision is not ideal, a change is needed.”
Gettleman had been Carolina’s general manager for four seasons, and the Panthers went 43-26-1. But Carolina was 6-10 last season a year after reaching the Super Bowl, where it lost to Denver. The Panthers had won the NFC South his first three years at the helm.
The relationship between Richardson and Gettleman began to deteriorate shortly after Carolina’s Super Bowl defeat. Gettleman used the franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman, but rescinded it a few weeks later and allowed him to become a free agent. Norman signed with Washington. The Panthers entered last season with two rookie starters. The secondary struggled, allowing two 500-yard passing games en route to their worst record since 2011.
Gettleman made other decisions that were unpopular with fans. Among them: cutting star wideout Steve Smith before the 2014 season and running back DeAngelo Williams in ’15. Williams, now a free agent after two seasons with Pittsburgh, tweeted he would consider returning to the Panthers “due to the firing of that snake Dave Gettleman!”
The final straw in their relationship apparently came when Gettleman, known for his gruff demeanour, wasn’t open to extending the contracts of linebacker Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen — players Richardson feels have been ideal representatives of the Panthers on and off the field.