From the moment former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi was enlisted to help the Panthers with their search for a new general manager, two names surfaced immediately as potential replacements for Marty Hurney — Giants college scouting director Marc Ross and longtime Giants personnel man Dave Gettleman.
Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter’s declaring Ross a leading candidate, if not the leading candidate for the job.
By rule, the Panthers can’t contact an employee of another team until their season ends, so it’s not as if they’ve lined up interviews. But sources within the Panthers organization said weeks ago Ross and Gettleman were short-listed, and were expected to meet with owner Jerry Richardson about the job.
Schefter also mentioned Raiders player personnel director Joey Clinkscales as a possibility.
By getting Accorsi on board mid-season, the Panthers are well ahead of other teams in terms of implementing a list and going through the vetting process, which will allow them to get a new guy in relatively quickly.
But any delay will likely leave coach Ron Rivera hanging, as they’d be smart to give the new GM input before making a decision on their second-year coach. Rivera has won some meaningless games late in seasons, but has a 1-12 record in games decided by a touchdown or less, and is far from secure.
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