The Panthers currently don’t have a General Manager. Unless they hire an external candidate to replace Marty Hurney permanently, the Panthers won’t have a General Manager until Hurney returns from administrative leave.
That won’t happen until the NFL’s investigation of Hurney, sparked by vague allegations from his ex-wife in a failed effort to secure a protective order, is concluded. According to the NFL, the investigation is ongoing.
The NFL also has pointed out via email to PFT that the team, not the league, placed Hurney on administrative leave, and that the team informed the league of the decision after the fact. Thus, it’s not for the league to reinstate Hurney.
In an item posted on Wednesday, I argued that the league should give the Panthers the green light to allow Hurney to return to work, absent tangible evidence of misconduct. In the interests of clarity, I’ll revise that plea: Absent tangible evidence of misconduct, the league should close the investigation of Hurney, so that the Panthers can reinstate him. It’s obvious that, without full clearance from the league office, the Panthers won’t be putting Hurney back to work.