The Gettleman Experience

[DaveThePanther2008]

Our GM came in last year and did probably the worst thing he could have ever done to this franchise.  Hit a home run with every move.  Every draft pick and free agent signing seemed to be the right one.  And IMO he will hit more home runs than strike outs in the future.

 

But those damn home runs ruined his plan.   I don't think he ever envisioned that we would win the NFCS.  But we did.  What a good team that was too.  Tough, nasty and had a killer instinct but in the end even our own flaws were found out.

 

I understood why he kept Hardy and IMO it was the right decision.  You keep that nasty front four going and hopefully the cheaply signed back end will be able to hold its own.   Then the wheels fell off.   Hardy gets a early all expenses paid vacation and to make matters worse.  Alexander decides he can fool the system and get caught again.  So now we lose what I thought would be a valid replacement for Hardy.   Now the defense is not as good.    I think they have played better but the offense is in the toilet.

 

Gettleman, Rivera and Shula all blew smoke up our asses about Bell and Chandler.   They had us believing that all was going to be well in 2014 with our oline.  Bell looks like a turnstile and Chandler looks like a floor mat.   Kalil can't do it by himself, Turner's been hurt and Norwell is just getting warm.   The worst offensive line in history.  Good God say it isn't so.   But even then I got the idea.  I don't think for one second Chandler or Bell were long term solutions but I do believe that Gettleman and the Panthers thought they could stand up for one season.   It was a huge gamble and it didn't pay off. 

 

Most of us can see what the plan was but either we choose to believe it is all Gettleman's fault or Rivera's fault or even Shula. 

 

But the bottom line is Hurney continues to screw this team.  Gettleman is a good GM and in the end we will be happy we kept him. I think he will continue to try and get this franchise headed in the right direction.   Though the pitchfork and axe folks want to drag him to the guillotine I think he will get us right by 2016. 

 

The moves I think he should make.

 

Coaches everyone stays except Shula.  Bring in someone with an imagination and someone who will use Cam and his superman style and make him great.   

 

Get some guys who can get some separation to help Cam.  Brown and KB are a good start but they need more help.

 

Continue to scrape the talent pool and find those players that will fit our scheme for one season until this Cap hell is over.

 

2015 Offseason should be focused on OTs.  I would say 2 Free Agents and a minimum of 2 high draft picks.  We have to protect our QB.   I will be shocked if this isn't priority #1 as soon as the season is over.

 

It is sad that we are on the brink of a losing season.   Basically 2 more loses and the season is officially a losing season.

 

Maybe something drastic happens and Rivera Nov-Dec magic returns and we win out. 

 

Regardless, Gettleman isn't the cause of this mess.  He made a few back choices but they had to be made and there is a good argument for those moves.   Whether the outcome was as he planned is a mute point.  The decision was made and it was an attempt not to mortgage the future to give us back to back winning seasons. 

 

Those of you that call for his head really need to take a step back and look at what he inherited and where he took us before you can him.

 

Maybe next season he'll give us 2013 again and 2016 we'll have our back to back winning seasons.

 

GO Panthers

[ThPantherFan]

How about the Readers' Digest version.

[TheNewStandard]

Dumpster fire

[Beast_3000]

Good post. I'm sure the other poster was just trying to be a nag about it being extremely long. I question the Harper signing. While he was a home run hitter last year he should be sent back to the minors for some of his picks this year. They have been monumentally bad. My assumption now is that they keep Harper on the field because of his leadership. Colin Jones is just better in every which way imaginable. He needs to be sat down for the Atlanta game before Harper reminds us all of Nakamura getting beat by Roddy White. . Heck at least Nakamura could tackle. Honestly I am not sure which one is worse. They are both just very awful safeties.

[Jackofalltrades]

Same story, different day.

[Cyberjag]

How about the Readers' Digest version.

 

It's Hurney's fault.  Be patient.

[Bj-Monster23]

I see where you are going in your post and you do have valid points. But people need to leave that notion alone about Greg Hardy. Yes he is a good player but he is not the whole reason why our defense has decline. You defense doesn't decline like that with one or two players gone. It's the team scheme that's failing and the players staying discipline and using correct fundamentals that's failing. That my friend falls on this coaching staff. Every team in the league has weakness but it's up to the coaches to hide them or exploit them. Our coaching staff can't do neither and that's the reason we won't go far with this team and coaching staff.

Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

[Ricky Spanish]

I don't agree with everything, but I agree with the overall concept. 

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the Hardy signing but I understood it. Not Gett's fault Hardy is an asshole. I really think it might be best if we cut ties with rivera at the end of the year.

[top dawg]

The honeymoon is over.

 

The goodwill that Gettleman garnered last year has been spent this year. At this point I will call it even.  

 

 

[MHS831]

Thank you, Dave.  People sure have short memories, but the contracts weren't short.  Hurney was desperate at the end, and when he blew a huge windfall of cap cash re-signing players from a 2-14 team, it was mind-blowing.  Compared to the rest of the league, the contracts were ridiculous--guaranteed money that was hilarious to a point we can't get out of the deals.  2 RBs with nearly $50m in guaranteed money.  Beason, Kalil made the highest paid players at their positions.  CJ had one other suitor--Atlanta--a team in cap hell at the time.  We could have re-signed him for $40-45 million, but Hurney gives him a paranoid $73m.  Anderson and Godfrey--average players at best--were paid more than the average at their positions at the time and they were Hurney's smartest deals.

 

These contracts are still on the roster and the books in some way.. We have a ton of dead money and a few players not earning those contracts.  Give Gettlemen a break.  Blaming him shows you don't understand the front offices of the NFL.  Hurney was out of control and an idiot-we are paying for it now.  I really think there are too many Madden players on here--Gettlemen could not hit "reset."

[Paa Langfart]

Like your post but Richard Rodgers needs to go along with Shula - way too many mistakes by our special teams and they werent all on the players.  I dont want to start from scratch but I would prefer rivera gets canned as well.

[0115]

tl;dr

[panthers55]

I think that blaming Hurney for everything is convenient since he is gone and surely he did hurt us from a cap point of view but lets not forget that he was the guy who drafted Cam, Kuechly and many of the legitimate stars on this team. Plus why should Gettleman get a total pass when he arrogantly let Smith go without trying to keep him and did the same with several of our pending free agents that he didn't try to sign.  Did he even try and trade for some legitimate players who other teams got for example for a low round pick?  Did he even try and sign many of our departing free agents?

 

I am fine with Gettleman for now because just like I give a pass to players and coaches who are learning and growing at a new level he deserves a change to learn and make mistakes. This is his first GM job and he tried to do something and one year it was a smash hit and the next an abject failure.  So hopefully he learns from it and is more humble and earnest in pursuing guys and keeping those we want to keep.  But he does deserve the criticism for 2014 as he botched a number of things and was arrogant based on his success in 2013.  Hopefully he will understand his mistakes and do better for the sake of the team.

[Cary Kollins]