Panthers fire GM on brink of camp
Front office a mess after team president resigned last winter.
Just over a week before training camp opens, the Carolina Panthers have no general manager. And no president.
The 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 preseason business. They already were without a team president after Danny Morrison resigned in February.
Owner Jerry Richardson said 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,” Richardson said.
The Panthers report to Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., on July 25 and have their first practice the following day.
Gettleman had been Carolina’s general manager for four seasons, when the Panthers went 43-26-1. But Carolina was 6-10 last season a year after reaching Super Bowl 50, 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 Gettleman used the franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman, but rescinded it a few weeks later and allowed him to become a free agent.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 and the secondary struggled.
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 2015.
Cowboys: A 30-year-old man was punched in the nose Sunday night in an incident that reportedly involved running back Ezekiel Elliott, but police did not name a suspect in the case. No one was arrested and no suspects were listed in a preliminary report. But radio station 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas reported that Elliott was involved in a physical altercation with a bouncer at Clutch Bar.
Redskins: Kirk Cousins will be the first quarterback in NFL history to play consecutive seasons on the franchise tag. Cousins and the Redskins didn’t sign a longterm deal by the deadline Monday. He will make $23.94 million on the franchise tag in 2017 after earning $19.95 million last year. Team President Bruce Allen said the Redskins’ goal was to sign Cousins, 28, to a long-term contract and offered him $53 million guaranteed or $72 million in the event of injury. But Allen said he never heard from Cousins’ agent.
Steelers: Star running back Le’Veon Bell and Pittsburgh failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract, meaning Bell will play on a one-year tender this season. Pittsburgh placed the franchise tag on Bell in March and had until Monday to work out a new deal. Bell, 25, instead will make $12.1 million this season, the average of the five highest-paid running backs in the league.