Was DG that great?

[pantherphan96]

Panthers Starters end of 2012 (before Gettleman) --> end of 2016/start of 2017
QB - Cam
RB - DWill --> Stewart
FB - Tolbert
WRs - Smith, Lafell --> KB, Funchess
TE - Olsen
LT - Gross --> Oher(Kalil)
LG - Silatolu --> Norwell
C - Kalil
RG - Garry Williams --> Turner
RT - Bell --> Williams(Moton)

DE - Hardy, CJ --> CJ, Peppers
DT - Dwan/Ron Edwards --> Star and KK
OLB - Davis, Anderson --> Davis, Thompson
MLB - Kuechly
CB - Munnerlyn, Norman --> Bradberry, Worley(Munnerlyn)
FS - Nakamura --> Coleman
SS - Godfrey --> Adams

 

Being as objective as possible, there are 9 positional upgrades, 2/3 downgrades (LT,WR,DE?)

This was done in 4/5 years despite inheriting a team 16million over the cap, with lots of money tied into long term contracts that had to restructured creating tons of dead money, drafting from the middle to end of each round in the draft.

Fails to even mention how many UDFA's or bargain bin free agents that came here and played a role in 2013, 2014, or 2015.

[DelhommesTheMan]

Compared to Hurney and Polian, yes Gettleman was great. Does that answer your question. Seriously anyone happy about this is going to hate looking back at there optimistic Hurney nonsense when I dig up all your crap 3-4 years from now. You have no idea how bad Hurney can make this team, I lived it. This move is probably the single worst mistake this franchise has ever made. If you want to turn a blind eye and pretend everything's okay, or make yourself feel better by questioning DG go for it, but most of the Panther fans know the truth. This organization is F ucked


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[Soul Rebel]

Short answer - Yes.

Short novel version -  

Some will label him as cheap or that he didn't want to spend money, but that is incorrect. He laid it down from the jump at his first presser when he said that our financial situation was a several year process before we would be viable players in the market. Due to previous regime's lack of long-term vision with their financial decisions, DG had no choice but add FA on the cheap for a few years and build through the draft and develop the youngsters.

Snagging guys like Kurt Coleman, Peanut Tillman and pre-concussion Michael Oher was a pretty brilliant roll of the dice. He did draft some bums but his overall drafting prowess and UDFA gems are not easy to pull off around the league. 

The genius with Gettleman is that he has the right mindset in this business.....which the NFL is... a business. Players want what they want, but at the end of the day, most of them are in it for two reasons - a ring and money.... the latter is usually the driving force for both. Players can't get mad when they negotiate to their favor, put the team's success at risk to land their payday or when the 'business' side of things helps their position.... and then get mad when they are released/traded/cut for business reasons.

I love Smitty, and next to TD, is probably my favorite Panther of all time. However, I question whether or not Cam's development and leadership happens as quickly as it did if Smitty was still here. Same with Olsen and KB's 1000 yard seasons. It was a business decision..... the same way Gross was, and DeAngelo, and JNo. 

The lack of personalization that DG handled Norman's situation with is my only real beef with him. Josh had a bad agent giving him poor advice. Dude came from nothing, grinded at a small school, grinded through camps and the season to earn a spot, grinded into a top-5 in the NFL role, and wanted to stay in Carolina....it was where his heart was. DG let emotion get in the way, IMO and really screwed that up. I believe the renouncing his FT and cutting him was cold-hearted and was what officially put JR on watch of how Gettleman was handling business. I think JR could live with Smitty, Gross, etc..... but Norman would've played under the FT for a year, we had cap space and he wanted to be a Carolina Panther. I think this rubbed JR the wrong way, and DG's leash got very, very short moving forward. 

To do what DG did with what he inherited and the years of failure prior to arriving, I would say he is 'that great'. His knowledge, scouting and confidence in moving forward for what's best for the team vs. emotionally tying your cap down with player-friendly moves, is what makes a great GM, IMO. I know it's been beaten to death, but just look at franchises like the Patriots, Seahawks, Steelers and Packers. All of them keep churning out young talent via the draft, develop players, and replace aging vets when the financials don't make sense. It's not a fan-friendly position, but that's why DG was so amazing, IMO.

He made the tough calls, and I do believe he saw the writing on the wall...... either we can extend TD/Olsen and maybe one of Turner/Norwell/Star/Shaq, or we continue to re-invest with the youth that we've developed and hope that Davis & Olsen will take team-friendly deals. Just my opinion, but I think this is what it came down to and JR didn't want to have another PR mess with waking up to "The Amazing Thomas Davis Cut" in the Observer.

/endrant

[Saca312]

The Panther Fan the past two days

• This offseason's slow
• lol wtf Gettleman ain't getting cut
• *Gettleman gets fired outta nowhere*
• lolwut
• WHAT?
• disbelief
• denial
• anger
• rage
• depression
• concern
• looking at the bright side: At least Hurney's not here
• *Hurney possibly getting hired*
• lol never gunna happen
• oh no what if he does
• *Hurney hired*
• lolwut
• WHAT?
• disbelief
• denial
• anger
• rage
• depression
• concern
• looking at the bright side: could be worse
• Acceptance
• Maybe Hurney's not so bad after all

And now we are at "lol what has Gettleman even done like wut"

 

[AceBoogie]

No back to back winning seasons in our history 

[Hogmolliesmaht]

I haven't gotten to "acceptance" yet and I will never got to the "Hurney is not that bad" phase. I would be getting good and drunk right now if I was still a drinker.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

lol moved past the denial and anger phases and have now gone straight into the bargaining phase

[Verge]

Yes, we were in the cap hell when he came in, he managed the cap beautifully, brought in Short, Star, Bradberry, Turner, Norwell, Klein, Shaq, Coleman, KB, Worley, and found bargain bin players that helped guide us to three straight division championships and a super bowl. Hurney is dog crap, he hits on first round picks and hands out major contract to 30 year olds who are past their prime. TD has betrayed this team and this will put us in a position to make major mistakes.

[j2sgam]

Here what it is for me.. after years of questioning the moves the team made, hoping for the best from drafts, FA period, contracts doled out and just general being a fan, we went with Gettleman. It felt like the team had a direction, were making progress, there was a plan & seemed to be working... I had a conversation with my Bears fan brother about having confidence in your teams FO & what a good feeling it was... because of Gettleman... great? Subjective.....

[Shocker]

Was the godfather great?  jeez.  We were amazingly fortunate to have him.  Dull days are here again real soon.

[OldNorthPowell]

He was the best GM this franchise has EVER had.  Well, you could make a case for Polian I suppose, but again JR didn't like his approach.  However, the approach to the FO that DG and Polian have has won franchise's SBs.  Same can not be said of JR.

[Shocker]

11 minutes ago, OldNorthPowell said:

He was the best GM this franchise has EVER had.  Well, you could make a case for Polian I suppose, but again JR didn't like his approach.  However, the approach to the FO that DG and Polian have has won franchise's SBs.  Same can not be said of JR.

No Gettleman was the best GM in the league.  Period.  You pay the guys that will sustain winning.  At the correct positions (and no CBs arent worth 15m) but DT, DE, QBs are worth the doe.  34 yr old players for the most part are on borrowed time.  Its a probablity thing and Dave got that.  He picked high value positions early in the draft...he gets it.  Having 2 extremely over paid RBs proves Hurney did not get it.  I am fuggin very disappointed, and am preparing myself for long term depression of what could have been.

[OldNorthPowell]

1 minute ago, Shocker said:

No Gettleman was the best GM in the league.  Period.  You pay the guys that will sustain winning.  At the correct positions (and no CBs arent worth 15m) but DT, DE, QBs are worth the doe.  34 yr old players for the most part are on borrowed time.  Its a probablity thing and Dave got that.  He picked high value positions early in the draft...he gets it.  Having 2 extremely over paid RBs proves Hurney did not get it.  I am fuggin very disappointed, and and preparing myself for long term depression of what could have been.

Very true, and a reason why the Panthers have yet to win the SB.  Also, a reason they have not had back to back winning seasons in their entire existence.

[AggieLean]

GMan reminded me of the Data Analysts that I work with here at the job. Smart as all get out, and when it comes to crunching the numbers and getting the data out there, they're great at it. When it comes to dealing with people, they're socially inept, which is why many of them are not able to land managerial positions. Maybe JR should've kept Gettleman on to handle the business side of it all, while bringing on Hurney or someone to present that data that Gettleman gathered. *shrugs*

Anyways, he was aight. Look forward to us possibly getting a real superstar in the front office. One who can excel in both business and social aspects of the job