Analysis: The Way The Panthers Fired Dave Gettleman Was A Huge Mistake - Why Our Future Looks Grim, And Why Competent GMs May Not Even Come Near Us

[OriginalPantherDan]

I've never been a Big Cat detractor, but it's really hard not to be after this stunt. The trajectory of this team may have just turned downward; whereas in the recent past I saw the Panthers winning a SB or two in the next few years, I'm not confident I can say that now. 

[Darvinsun]

Td and Olsen have been putting the team 1st by renegociating and everything..we do not know the whole story, but we do see results from gettles contract signings...sure gettles has made some good evaluation on drafting players..he has also made some bad decisions on whether offense or defense players...no one is perfect but if i come to work everyday and do my job well i expect to be showed some respect and even some courtsey when exiting the building..i said that the way he treated the josh and smith exiting would be a problem and it was..part of the reason the team went downsouth..you just don't do what you did to josh and think it would not affect the current players..mainly why Olsen and TD dont trust Gettles to wait until contract time..There is no trust between him and the players.  Franchise is not doomed, we have our core players and majority of the support cast..We will find a better GM that understands how to manage contracts and treat players who work hard with respect.

Dont agree with you on this one Saca312 we are not doomed!

[Wolfcop]

Man, some of you are jumping off the ledge with this. There are many, many quality candidates that would love this job. Gentleman did some good things and did some bad things. The next GM will do the same. Just because DG was good at parts of his job does not make him expendable. Plus, we do not know the whole story. We have the core still here that went to the SB 2 years ago. We will be fine. 

[Ricky Spanish]

This seems pretty fatalistic. By numerous accounts, Gettleman wasn't the most cuddly individual and his personality could have been the top 3 reasons why he wasn't kept around. 

I hope we get a good GM to replace him, but I doubt we get one with the wealth of knowledge and experience as Getts. 

[Peppers90 NC]

I would feel kinda dirty if I were Olsen or TD talking contracts to the public and helped getting this dude fired.

[panthers55]

10 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

You do understand Gettleman had no money at all, right?

Like he had to make do with scraps year after year, and below top 20 picks year after year in the draft and make something out of it.

He got Trai Turner, Andrew Norwell, and good depth this year at OG, something we haven't had much of in the past.

He got Michael Oher who played really well in 2015 prior to him being injured, and he drafted Daryl Williams and Taylor Moton as of late. He even got Remmers who was an upgrade over Chandler.

He's tried to upgrade our O-line everyway he could with the little resources he could use.

He couldn't go out there and overpay for whoever's in FO because he didn't have the money. Yet, he made do with what little he had.

First of all when he arrived we had a decent line. Let's not forget he was the reason Gross retired and we ended up with Bell as his replacement. He could have paid him a decent wage and kept him for a year or two more. Did we use one draft pick in the first 2 rounds on a left tackle ever? Even Moton this year was projected as a right tackle not left. Let's look at the draft and see if there are any left tackles drafted in this league after we picked who performed well. If Gettleman was such a great evaluator of talent then why couldn't we solve that issue? 

And let's be real here, the cap is easy to manipulate and we could have gotten whoever we wanted. Look at teams who are always over the cap and they seem to get the free agents they want.  We went from 13 million over the cap to that much under in one year. Then we didn't use it on a left tackle and waited to this year when Richardson put him on the hot seat apparently and he pulled the trigger on Kalil. I suspect he was forced into that decision. We were in cap hell for one year. What about the next four?

[ClawOn]

Agreed OP, except as to motivation.  Richardson does value winning,  but not at any cost.  Gettleman only cared about results. Interpersonal relationships were last on his priority list,  and thus,  he is gone. 

It is indeed all very unfortunate. Long term this will prove to be a grave mistake. 

[XClown1986]

I think it is now fair to say that any fan of this team would be hypocritical to hate Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder with the way JR runs this team with an iron fist. What a sh it show

[Snake]

This was a stupid move at a stupid time. 

[ickmule]

1 hour ago, Promethean Forerunner said:

And thus proving my point.

So long as Richardson runs this franchise, he'll be a hindrance. He needs to be removed.

Actually he's the only constant in the 20+ years of mediocrity we have been watching. Until there is new ownership nothing will be different. 

[XClown1986]

9 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

First of all when he arrived we had a decent line. Let's not forget he was the reason Gross retired and we ended up with Bell as his replacement. He could have paid him a decent wage and kept him for a year or two more. Did we use one draft pick in the first 2 rounds on a left tackle ever? Even Moton this year was projected as a right tackle not left. Let's look at the draft and see if there are any left tackles drafted in this league after we picked who performed well. If Gettleman was such a great evaluator of talent then why couldn't we solve that issue? 

And let's be real here, the cap is easy to manipulate and we could have gotten whoever we wanted. Look at teams who are always over the cap and they seem to get the free agents they want.  We went from 13 million over the cap to that much under in one year. Then we didn't use it on a left tackle and waited to this year when Richardson put him on the hot seat apparently and he pulled the trigger on Kalil. I suspect he was forced into that decision. We were in cap hell for one year. What about the next four?

To say we were in cap hell for one year is simply untrue. From the day Gettleman walked in the door he said he needed 3 seasons to fix the cap. What happened in year 4? Super Bowl bound with all of our key players under contract. If the cap were so easy to manipulate Marty Hurney would still be here.

[KillerKat]

IF I was DG, I'd say "you can't fire me!" and just come in the next day and keep working as if nothing happened.

[panthers55]

39 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

You understand these pro bowlers and players have big time contract dates coming up, and we don't have as much cap space as we did last off-season to pay all of them.

If JR wants this to be a pushover FO overpaying some players, it's likely a lot of talent we have will be slipping away fast.

You are a sky is falling guy here. No one says overpay guys simply value leadership and locker room presence as much as athletic talent. And next year we have a cap surplus of 15 million. If we carry over 10 that gives us 25. Add the rise in yearly cap of 10 million and we have 35 million. If we extend Davis his cap of 8 million will likely go down not up so maybe we get 3 more. What if Oher is gone and we save more.  Get serious here. You are grasping at straws

 

[Saca312]

Just now, panthers55 said:

You are a sky is falling guy here. No one says overpay guys simply value leadership and locker room presence as much as athletic talent. And next year we have a cap surplus of 15 million. If we carry over 10 that gives us 25. Add the c

Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell deserve Top 5 contracts as G.

Star Lotulelei needs a contract of his own too, and that won't come cheap.

Add the money. We're out pretty quick.