Tag: Marty Hurney

Analysis: Panthers’ offseason urgency shows new front office has their eye on the ball

The Panthers are expected to sign former Titans defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, according to Ian Rapoport at NFL Network. 

The Panthers are expected to sign former Titans defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, according to Ian Rapoport at NFL Network.

A 99-game veteran at this level, Jones helps fill one of the team’s most critical personnel needs. Losing Efe Obada and releasing Kawann Short and Zach Kerr had left the team extremely thin along the interior of their defensive line. Jones is a run-stopping tackle who should help fill the void left by those losses. More importantly, signing Jones represents another milestone acquisition in what’s become a clear pattern for the organization this offseason.

Whereas former general manager Marty Hurney appeared to be somewhat slow on the draw, these Panthers have been far more active than any offseason in recent memory under the direction of head coach Matt Rhule and new GM Scott Fitterer.

The most important move that the front office has made thus far was when they used the franchise tag on their star right tackle Taylor Moton. Allowing Moton to test the open market might have been devastating for an offensive line that could have turned over four starters this year. Instead, the Panthers kept their best OL in the fold, sending a message that they’re serious about maintaining and upgrading a roster in dire need of improvement.

Since the Moton tag was announced, Carolina has been as busy as any team in the NFL. In free agency, they have signed a series of players to mostly team-friendly one and two-year deals. Some of their best hits include adding Haason Reddick and Denzel Perryman to their front seven at a pittance, as well as tight end Dan Arnold – also at a bargain – to boost what were some abysmal red zone numbers last year.

There have been some missteps. Most notably, the early additions of OL Pat Elflein and Cameron Erving will likely turn sour, but they’re also the exceptions to the rule. Generally speaking, this front office has hit the right notes.

This new-look Panthers regime has also been heavily-involved on the trade front. They spent the last several months trying to land an upgrade at quarterback, first attempting to get Matt Stafford, then openly thirsting for Deshaun Watson and finally trading three draft picks for Sam Darnold.

There are legitimate questions about Darnold’s game and how much of an upgrade he really is compared to Teddy Bridgewater. Other pickups also have their issues, from A.J. Bouye’s suspension and post-2017 decline to David Moore’s prowess as a WR3.

There’s no such thing as a perfect offseason though and in the big picture this franchise has been aggressively pursuing its needs and showing a previously-missing sense of urgency.

Time will tell whether the moves that they’ve made will pay off and help turn around a team that’s suffered three losing seasons in a row. To their credit, Fitterer and Rhule are using all the tools at their disposal to try to get better. At the end of the day, that’s all any fan of a struggling team can ask.

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Where is Martin Mayhew/Ron Rivera in NFL.com’s new GM rankings?

The Washington Football Team has one of the more unique front-office situations in the league. It’s an approach owner Daniel Snyder labeled

The Washington Football Team has one of the more unique front-office situations in the league. It’s an approach owner Daniel Snyder labeled as “coach-centric” when he hired Ron Rivera after the 2019 season.

In Rivera’s first season in Washington, vice president of player personnel, Kyle Smith, ran the draft. However, at the end of the 2020 season, Rivera restructured Washington’s front office, allowing Smith to walk.

Rivera named former Detroit general manager — and Washington cornerback — Martin Mayhew as the new general manager in January. Rivera also hired his former general manager in Carolina, Marty Hurney, executive vice president of football/player personnel.

Some around the league saw it as strange. Who reported to who? Well, Mayhew made it clear when he was hired, he would report directly to Rivera.

So, who is actually in charge?

Make no mistake, Rivera has the final say. But, both Mayhew and Hurney have considerable input in all personnel matters.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com recently released his list of the top GMs from 1-32. Instead of Rosenthal naming one Washington GM on his list, he named all three and offered the following take:

This is one of the most confusing setups in the league, but Hurney and Mayhew made it clear after their hires in January that Rivera is in charge. The irony here is that Rivera’s first draft in Washington, spearheaded by Kyle Smith, was terrific, with Antonio Gibson and safety Kamren Curl adding to a no-brainer pick of Chase Young at No. 2 overall.

A total of 23 GMs were ranked. Anyone hired in the most recent hiring cycle did not make the list, and that included Washington’s triumvirate of decision-makers.

Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts was the No. 1 ranked general manager.

 

Curtis Samuel reunited with familiar faces in Washington

What does the reunion with Ron Rivera and Co. mean for Curtis Samuel’s fantasy football value?

On the first official day of 2021 NFL free agency, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel heads a little north to join the Washington Football Team. He is reunited with his former head coach Ron Rivera, 2019 offensive coordinator Scott Turner, and long-time general manager Marty Hurney.

Former Panthers backup and presumed No. 2 quarterback Taylor Heinicke also is in Washington, in the event newcomer Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t so magical in his age-39 season.

Washington will find creative ways to utilize Samuel’s speed and feature him prominently alongside wide receiver Terry McLaurin. Tight end Logan Thomas broke through in 2020, giving the offense more outlets for the opponent to worry about defending. The backfield features a quality tandem in pass-catcher J.D. McKissic and promising ’20 rookie Antonio Gibson to balance the offense.

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Washington’s philosophy is built on successfully running the ball to enable play-action passing and fielding a consistently sound defense. The offensive line graded out as the sixth-best unit overall last year by ProFootballFocus, and the core returns intact.

Fantasy football outlook

The offense overtly needed another weapon and explosiveness. Samuel will be a large part of the offense and is in a good spot regardless of how the quarterback situation shakes out during the season.

There is only mild upside in Samuel, though. He has been put in better situations than this while with the Panthers and failed to capitalize in an earth-shaking way for fantasy purposes. Not all of it was his fault, but reasonable expectations must be in focus. Minor injuries have been an issue, too.

He is fresh off a career high for receptions (77) and yardage (851), but Samuel caught just three touchdowns and added a pair on the ground. He scored seven total touchdown in each of the previous two seasons — solid but far from special production — while in the Turner-inspired offense. Quarterback issues in recent years didn’t help, but it’s not like anything Washington can offer will be ultimately that much of an upgrade.

Fantasy footballers should consider Samuel a WR3 in the upcoming draft season if erring on the side of caution is your thing. His best season came outside of Turner’s offense. He has the tools to post No. 2 figures with regularity, illustrated by his WR23 overall finish a year ago in PPR. However, that should be the optimistic view of his potential worth. Drafting him as a second receiver isn’t advised in standard formats and comes with arguably more risk than reward potential in reception-rewarding leagues.

Ron Rivera won’t rule out Washington signing Cam Newton

One of the many moving pieces to watch is former Panthers MVP quarterback Cam Newton, who will become a free agent again next month.

If the lopsided blockbuster Matt Stafford for Jared Goff trade is any indication of what’s to come, we’re about to witness the wildest offseason in NFL history. Deshaun Watson is the brightest star at the center of a constellation of potential quarterback movement. It’s impossible to predict how it will all shake out, but right now it seems like half the teams in the league could wind up changing starters in 2021.

One of the many moving pieces to watch is former Panthers MVP quarterback Cam Newton, who will become a free agent again next month. Newton’s Patriots missed the playoffs and his passing numbers were underwhelming. However, he also had arguably less to work with at wide receiver than any other QB during the 2020 season. Newton also proved he’s still one of the game’s best rushing quarterbacks and his epic Week 2 performance against the Seahawks showed his arm talent is still in top-10 territory when he’s healthy.

He’s not the same playmaker he was in 2015 obviously, but Newton still qualifies as an upgrade for maybe a dozen or so teams, including the one former Carolina coach Ron Rivera is now with. Speaking yesterday with the media, Rivera wouldn’t rule out Washington signing Newton – per Alaina Getzenberg at the Charlotte Observer.

There are a few notable obstacles to a potential Newton/Rivera union. The first is the presence of Alex Smith, who’s a popular candidate to win Comeback Player of the Year and is under contract for two more seasons. Smith is five years older than Newton though and he’s not in the same league athletically. Rivera should understand that as well as anyone, having worked up close with both.

The other big potential hangup is former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney, who unceremoniously released Newton from Carolina last year and replaced him with Teddy Bridgewater. Newton was reportedly “blindisded” by the move and clearly felt betrayed based on his social media posts in the weeks and months following the news. It would certainly be understandable if he held a grudge against Hurney – who is now a prominent member of Washington’s front office.

Speaking of which, Hurney was asked about the quarterback situation yesterday and warned against mortgaging the future for one.

It’s difficult to say what Newton’s market will look like. We can probably assume he’ll get more than the absurd $1.75 million bargain New England had him at this year, though.

Heading into the offseason, we have Newton ranked as the third-best free agent QB behind Dak Prescott and Jameis Winston.

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Top quotes from Washington Executive VP Marty Hurney introductory press conference

Washington’s new Executive VP of Player Personnel took the mic on Wednesday to lay out his plans to help Washington grow down the road.

It’s been a couple of weeks since the news was reported that former Carolina Panthers GM Marty Hurney would be linking back up with Ron Rivera as the new Executive VP of Player Personnel, but we finally were officially introduced to the new front office member on Wednesday.

Hurney has a load of experience in the NFL, having spent almost two decades in the Panthers’ front office, working alongside Rivera as the GM for the latter half of the 2010s. Now he is coming to Washington after being let go last season, where he will serve as a high-ranking executive.

It was first reported that Hurney would become the new GM in Washington, while Martin Mayhew would hold a high-ranking executive role as well. We later learned that it would actually be Mayhew that would hold the GM title, while Hurney will be involved as a high-ranking executive in the front office. Both men have held numerous executive and general manager roles in the NFL before.

Here are some of the top quotes from Hurney’s introductory press conference:

ESPN predicts Panthers WR Curtis Samuel signs with Washington

Bill Barnwell at ESPN predicts Samuel will sign a four-year, $46 million deal with Washington. Here’s his reasoning.

The Panthers have three important pending free agents on offense this year. Right tackle Taylor Moton should be at the top of general manager Scott Fitterer’s list for a contract extension. Left tackle Russell Okung can be allowed to walk as long as Fitterer has a real plan to replace him. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel is the third and most difficult to predict as to where he will play in 2021.

Samuel is a versatile and underrated playmaker who is worth keeping around. Unfortunately, former GM Marty Hurney’s failure to extend him before now makes it more difficult to sign him to a long-term deal. It’s possible Carolina can’t compete with the kinds of offers Samuel will get if he hits the market. One landing spot that makes a lot of sense is the Washington Football Team, which would reunite Samuel with Hurney and former Carolina head coach Ron Rivera.

Bill Barnwell at ESPN predicts Samuel will sign a four-year, $46 million deal with Washington.

“There’s a valuable player in here, and the first folks in the NFL to notice that aren’t in Carolina anymore. Coach Ron Rivera and general manager Marty Hurney are in Washington, which doesn’t have much on the depth chart at wide receiver beyond Terry McLaurin and Cam Sims. Antonio Gibson was really mostly a traditional running back in 2020, so Samuel could step in as the second wideout and the guy who creates havoc moving around the formation in the Washington offense alongside J.D. McKissic.”

Signing Samuel would make Washington’s passing game more potent, especially if they were to also add former Panthers QB Cam Newton – who had a strong chemistry with No. 10. Hurney releasing Cam last year may harvest some sour grapes, but Newton qualifies as a significant upgrade over Alex Smith and WFT has to seriously consider it.

Back to Samuel. This past season he posted some impressive career-high numbers, including receiving yards (851), catch rate (79.4%) and yards per target (8.8). He only scored five touchdowns from scrimmage though, down from seven in both 2018 and 2019.

Samuel’s numbers would almost certainly have been bigger if he didn’t have to share so many targets with D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson, who tended to run the deeper routes that had previously been Samuel’s cup of tea. If Samuel returns, offensive coordinator Joe Brady should try to get him more involved, even if Christian McCaffrey is available all 16 games.

If Samuel does rejoin Rivera, he’d be a rock-solid No. 2 option behind Terry McClaurin.

The Giants are another possibility. Former Panthers GM Dave Gettleman drafted Samuel back in 2017 and New York needs wide receivers even more than Washington.

As for the Panthers, replacing Samuel wouldn’t be easy but there are a few free agents worth a look, including Sammy Watkins and Will Fuller.

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Report: Martin Mayhew to be named GM in Washington; Marty Hurney to be high-ranking executive

It will be Martin Mayhew who holds the title of GM in Washinton, while Marty Hurney will stick around as a top-executive in the front office.

There have been no real changes when it comes to the men that were hired to work in the front office for the Washington Football Team this week, other than the fact that their titles were reversed.

It was reported earlier this week that Marty Hurney would become the new GM in Washington, while Martin Mayhew would hold a high-ranking executive role as well. Now we are learning that it will actually be Mayhew that will hold the GM title, while Hurney will be involved as a high-ranking executive in the front office. Both men have held numerous executive and general manager roles in the NFL before.

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3 big picture questions for Carolina Panthers GM Scott Fitterer

For now, let’s focus on three big-picture questions he’ll have to answer.

Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer is stepping into a challenging situation thanks to the mistakes of the previous front office administration. The team he’s taking over went 5-11 this season, has little salary cap room to work with, a host of pending free agents at key positions and a question mark hanging over the most-important one on the field.

There are a million little problems that Fitterer will face in his new role. For now, let’s focus on three big-picture questions he’ll have to answer.

Washington hires Martin Mayhew as high-ranking executive; title to be determined

Washington is bringing in Martin Mayhew to be a high-ranking executive, working alongside Ron Rivera and GM Marty Hurney.

Washington reportedly is in the works of hiring former Carolina Panthers GM Marty Hurney as their new general manager, but while the deal is still being worked out, they made another big hire by bringing in former San Francisco 49ers VP of Player Personnel, Martin Mayhew, to be a high-ranking executive.

Mayhew, who won a Super Bowl as a player in Washington, was interviewed for the GM job and is now being brought in to be part of the front office with a title to be determined. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Mayhew will work with both Ron Rivera and Hurney to help restructure the organization.

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Washington expected to hire Marty Hurney to be next General Manager

Washington moved quickly to hire Marty Hurney once they got him in for an interview, naming him to be the team’s next GM on Tuesday.

The Washington Football Team took a little over a week to schedule their first interview with former Carolina Panthers GM Marty Hurney, but once they finally got him in the building, so to say, things moved quickly.

It was reported on Tuesday that the team is expected to hire Hurney to be the next general manager in Washington, which comes just a day after a report broke that they were interviewing him for the position. According to the report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Hurney was the team’s top target, and a deal was expected to be done as soon as this week.

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Hurney’s hiring is not a surprise, especially when considering the connection with head coach Ron Rivera. The two worked together during their time in Carolina, and once Hurney was relieved of his duties with the Panthers earlier this season, it wasn’t hard to draw out his next steps.

Hurney has actually held a position in Washington’s front office before, where he was in public relations back in 1988-89. More notably, Hurney has been with the Panther’s organization since 1998, acting as GM in two separate stints, from 2002-2012, and again from 2017-2020.

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The hiring of a GM in Washington is not expected to change much, with Rivera still at the head of a coach-centric operation that has him overseeing personnel decisions. However, Hurney may have oversight of some salary cap decisions, as well as other things.

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