From the moment Ernie Accorsi was brought in to consult on the Panthers general manager search, Dave Gettleman became a favorite for the job.
Wednesday, he became the Panthers’ General Manager.
The team announced the move moments ago.
“I was very impressed with Dave’s experience and think he will be a very good fit for our organization,” Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said in a statement. “He has an extensive background in personnel and comes from an organization in the New York Giants that I hold in high regard and he played an instrumental role in their success.”
Gettleman was most recently the Giants’ senior pro personnel analyst, after being director of pro personnel.
The fact he had more than simply a personnel background was important to the Panthers in their search, as he was replacing a G.M. (Marty Hurney) who came up through a cap-and-contract background. The Panthers wanted a manager as much as a scout, and Gettleman is widely hailed as a solid choice among personnel sources (a notoriously fickle lot).
The job has its challenges, as he doesn’t get to pick his own head coach, and inherits a team that’s roughly $16 million over the cap next year.
[Photo credit: Panthers.com]