So Why Are So Many Fans Repulsed With The Idea Marty Hurney Is Near This Team? A Look Back In Time.

[Saca312]

I was scrolling through some sites and saw someone post this old article from 2012 pretty much explaining exactly how incompetent Marty Hurney was at negotiating contracts with players.

Here's an excerpt:

http://grantland.com/features/the-roster-moves-made-panthers-gm-incompetent-best/

Quote

Hurney’s true disaster came through re-signing the talent at the core of that 2-14 team. That’s part of the benefit of hiring a new general manager when you go 2-14; you get a fresh set of eyes that isn’t emotionally committed to the talent currently on the roster in the same way that a GM who scouted and drafted that talent is. General managers occasionally overpay a homegrown player under the logic that they know him better than the marketplace, but the Panthers took that to a new level. Over several weeks last summer, Hurney handed out eight contract extensions to starters on that 2-14 Panthers team, including two that set records for players at their particular positions. Of those eight, one was defensible (the record-setting deal given to center Ryan Kalil) and two represented merely mediocre value (those of James Anderson and Charles Godfrey). The other five were, to borrow a term from Jonah Keri, crizazzlebeans. They seemed ill-advised at the time and, in most cases, look dramatically worse a year later. Those deals included:

• A five-year, $50 million deal for Jon Beason that guaranteed the former “Seventh Floor Crew” member $25 million and made him the highest-paid inside linebacker in league history. The deal, signed in July 2011, came amid reports that Beason had been struggling with an Achilles injury for several months. Beason went on to tear his Achilles tendon during the opening week of the season, an injury that cost him the remainder of that campaign and will have deleterious long-term effects on his career. Beason is back, but he’s not the same guy; the old Beason wouldn’t have tried to two-hand touch Andre Brown³ in the first quarter last night.
• A five-year, $36.5 million deal for Thomas Davis, a talented linebacker coming off of ACL tears in consecutive seasons. Davis tore his ACL again just weeks after signing his extension. It’s a deal that has been pilloried here in the past, but the argument boils down to one simple question: What other team wanted to give Davis a long-term deal with any guaranteed money? Carolina gave Davis a $7 million signing bonus when no other team in football would have been likely to give him even a million dollars in guaranteed money. Davis played in the first two games of the 2012 season, but was inactive against the Giants on Thursday night.
• A six-year, $76 million contract for Charles Johnson, which guaranteed a player with 21.5 sacks over four seasons an incredible $32 million. The Johnson deal was the sort of contract that causes lockouts and dramatically shifts the cost of unproven pass-rushers skyward. It’s a deal that probably prevented the likes of Cliff Avril from signing long-term contracts this offseason, and one that will make it wildly difficult to lock up actual stars like Clay Matthews as they approach free agency. The Panthers felt like they had to pay an exorbitant sum to keep Johnson from hitting the free market, but nobody in the league would have come close to giving him this sort of money. Johnson, the leader of a pass rush that seemed more like a Chamber of Commerce for Eli Manning last night, has nine sacks in 18 games since signing his deal. And his is the best of the five!
• A four-year, $12 million deal for Olindo Mare, yet another example of a team being fooled by a kicker. After a disastrous season for the Saints in 2007, the Seahawks signed Mare for the veteran’s minimum and got three years of above-average kicking from him. Just like the last-place team in baseball that insists on spending big bucks on a closer, the 2-14 Panthers decided that they were a kicker away from seriously winning and gave Mare a four-year deal. He missed a number of meaningful kicks in 2011 and was released after one season. Mare is currently a free agent and probably, because of his leg on kickoffs, better than half the kickers who signed franchise deals this offseason.
• A five-year, $43 million deal for DeAngelo Williams, one that guarantees him $21 million. Hurney gave Williams this contract despite the presence of former first-round pick Jonathan Stewart on the roster, which which many perceived as a sign that the team would eventually shop Stewart around the league.
• Instead, just one year later, the Panthers gave Jonathan Stewart a six-year, $37 million deal that guarantees him $22.5 million, which adds up to $80 million in contracts for a pair of running backs that might not be better with the ball than their quarterback. Williams had just 836 yards rushing last year, and outside of a 1,515-yard season in 2008, he’s averaged 706 rushing yards and four touchdowns per season. For that, he got a deal roughly similar to the one Ray Rice just picked up. Hurneymania!!

As a result of all that largesse, the 6-10 Panthers entered this offseason nearly $10 million over the cap and unable to make any sort of foray into free agency. Holes at wide receiver and defensive tackle and depth issues on the offensive line and in the secondary weren’t properly addressed, forcing the Panthers to bring in borderline rotation guys from other teams like Dwan Edwards and Haruki Nakamura to start. When the injuries inevitably show up, the players behind them are even weaker.

There's a LOT more the article covers, including Hurney's draft blunders and decisions that pretty much put a lid on the Panther's potential.

Just as a quick reminder to why so many of us were very glad Hurney left, and why many are freaking over at the prospect of him being back. Even if it's true that Jerry Richardson forced Hurney's hand, just even the idea he was a "yes-man" pretty much pains us all.

We're promised it will only be an interim assignment IF Hurney is signed, which wouldn't be too bad. He knows the team decently well, and has "experience" running things. He would likely have a lot of restraint on what he can/can't do, and we'll find a speedy replacement in the meantime.

However, the worry we all have is the case where Jerry Richardson lazily looks at our (likely) success starting off in 2017, and say "oh hey Hurney wanna hang around a little while longer?" That is what we don't want to happen, especially considering this is Gettleman's roster going into this season.

So, for those of you wondering "why the Hurney hate?" This article from long ago sums it up.

 

[PhillyB]

i just threw up 

[therealmjl]

@SmartyHurney just in case you needed a reminder

[therealmjl]

Some of the lowest points of my fandom

[Saca312]

This is why I'm very worried about how much of a say Hurney/Jerry Richardson will have with negotiating Thomas Davis' and Greg Olsen's contracts. 

Hurney is known to give aging veterans insane contracts, and I don't like the way things are moving.

[The Huddler]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pretty much sums up the past 36 hours for me. 

[Saca312]

I miss the days of Gettlemagic, Dollar Store shopping, and finding diamonds and gems for dirt cheap.

 

[beastson]

JR got connects in the league, he doesn't need Hurney to get some damn contracts done. He can hire someone as like a consultant to help him make the deals can he not? Ron Rivera and coaches can take care of the cuts in TC and IMO the coaches can collectively make a decision on waivers, why not? Don't they already do that anyway?

You fire Hurney, bring in Gettleman, we get to SB with Gettleman, you fire him within 2 years, bring Hurney back as interim GM, and then find a permanent one. Wtf

[therealmjl]

1 minute ago, beastson said:

JR got connects in the league, he doesn't need Hurney to get some damn contracts done. He can hire someone as like a consultant to help him make the deals can he not? Ron Rivera and coaches can take care of the cuts in TC and IMO the coaches can collectively make a decision on waivers, why not? Don't they already do that anyway?

You fire Hurney, bring in Gettleman, we get to SB with Gettleman, you fire him within 2 years, bring Hurney back as interim GM, and then find a permanent one. Wtf

exactly. makes no sense.

[TheRed]

Anyone who has actually followed the team for more than just the last few years since Gettleman was at the helm wouldn't need any article to know what they're getting with Hurney.

We've established Hurney was not a good GM, and his drafting history is, ahem, checkered to say the least.

We've also established we have some god awful fans here that are so steaming mad about Gettleman getting the axe that they will throw any and every current or former player under the bus. What a bunch of little bitches.

[Pimpdaddy]

...Carolina Hicklebucks...

 

[TPanther920]

8 minutes ago, PhillyB said:

i just threw up 

• Those were some sad years. Hurney's B.S. led me to pay more attention to the business side. DG "may" have been an ass but the man knew how to manage the business end. I'll take that over "mr. buddy buddy" anyday.

[csx]

Because he sucked and made multiple obviously bad decisions over several years that tanked the team. I don't suppose you were a fan then if you didn't notice this.

 

[R0CKnR0LLA]

too bad JR can't remember past what he ate for breakfast