Early on Monday morning, the Carolina Panthers made the expected move of firing general manager Marty Hurney, who has been with the team for a total of 13 years in two stints over the past two decades. With a new coach now in Carolina and goals for a new stint of success, it became clear that they needed some new blood at the top following three consecutive losing seasons.
So what does this matter for Washington fans? Well, Washington has a vacancy at the GM position, and Hurney is a guy who’s named may people have floated to take that position, with him having worked closely with Ron Rivera for several years.
One sidenote for the #Panthers moving on from Marty Hurney now: He’ll be a candidate to take over in Washington assuming they open up their GM job alongside Ron Rivera. This gives him a headstart, as well.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 21, 2020
Good news, right? Well, that depends on your outlook on the situation, and what you think of the potential promotion of Kyle Smith, who is the VP of Player Personnel in Washington. Smith has been outstanding over the past few years building a young and talented roster through the draft, and a lot of people are penciling him in as the de facto GM. The Athletic’s Mark Bullock noted on Monday morning that Smith might still make more sense than Hurley, based on what he’s built so far in Washington.
There’s far more to a GM’s job than just evaluating talent, which is why there’s a whole scouting department with heads of college and pro scouting. But from my perspective, if I’m Washington, I’d rather go with Kyle Smith over Hurney. https://t.co/Dv6fFYWCiz
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) December 21, 2020
There is also a fear in Washington that if you make somebody other than Smith the GM, he will go elsewhere in the NFL and build a Super Bowl-caliber roster, which we’ve seen before when it comes to coaches like Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan.
Rivera briefly touched on the firing of Hurney in his media session on Monday but said for the most part that he won’t talk about the GM position until after the season. In the end, it really is his decision to make, and we’ll see what he wants to do. We know that he has an affinity for Hurney, and I’d say that the former Panthers’ guy is the odds-on favorite to be the next GM in Washington, but if you’re a fan of the team, you might think twice about passing on Smith. Losing him could have huge ramifications.
[listicle id=45315]