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Join us as we track every candidate in the Panthers’ search for a new general manager
Congratulations, Carolina Panthers fans. You got a twofer this time around!
Not only will the organization be on their second head-coaching hunt in as many offseasons—but, with the dismissal of Scott Fitterer, they’ll also be on the prowl for a new general manager.
Keep it here as we track each candidate throughout the process.
The Panthers confirmed interview requests for eight GM candidates on Monday.
Hmmm . . . it’s almost as if the Carolina Panthers knew they weren’t moving forward with Scott Fitterer.
On Monday, not even 12 hours after announcing his firing, the team confirmed their interview requests for eight general manager candidates.
The list is as follows:
Just as in their head-coaching hunt, where they’ve also confirmed interview requests for nine candidates, the Panthers are not permitted to hold in-person interviews for the position until Jan. 22.
This will be the first time the organization is set to hire both a new general manager and a new head coach in the same offseason since 2002.
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Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Panthers have requested to speak with Eagles assistant GM Alec Halaby.
The Carolina Panthers have gone to work on Black Monday.
After parting ways with general manager Scott Fitterer, the team not only signed 14 players to new deals this afternoon, but they also reportedly started on interview requests.
They began their search for their front office’s new shot-caller with a trio of names. As reported by league insiders Peter Schrager and Tom Pelissero, the feelers have been sent out for Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant general manager Mike Greenberg, New York Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown and Kansas City Chiefs vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis.
A fourth name would then emerge, courtesy of NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Rapoport tweeted that the Panthers have requested to speak with Philadelphia Eagles assistant general manager Alec Halaby.
Halaby has been with the Eagles for the last 16 seasons. Before being named to his current post in 2022, the Harvard University graduate spent six years as the team’s vice president of football operations and strategy.
His emphasis on analytics, which helped build an NFC championship roster last season, may be valued by Panthers owner David Tepper.
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The Carolina Panthers have requested to interview Tampa Bay’s salary cap wizard for their new General Manager opening.
The Carolina Panthers requested permission to interview Buccaneers assistant general manager Mike Greenberg on Monday afternoon.
Greenberg has been with the Bucs’ front office for 14 seasons and was promoted to Assistant General Manager before the start of the season on June 29. He spent eight seasons with Tampa Bay as director of football administration, two seasons as the coordinator of football administration, and two seasons as the vice president of football administration.
Greenberg is responsible for strategic and financial planning and oversees budgeting for all football operations. He helped sign several notable free agents this past season like cornerback Jamel Dean, linebacker Lavonte David and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Panthers requested permission to interview Buccaneers’ assistant GM Mike Greenberg for their general manager job, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 8, 2024
The Panthers are on the hunt for a new general manager after they fired Scott Fitterer Monday morning. Fitterer’s time in Carolina was short-lived and will be well known due to a series of poor decisions made by him and his staff.
The former general manager decided to trade up in the 2023 NFL Draft from pick No. 9 to No. 1 and selected quarterback Bryce Young. He gave the Chicago Bears two first-round picks, two second-round picks and wide receiver DJ Moore.
Young struggled significantly in his rookie season and threw for just 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Panthers finished the season with a 2-15 record.
Fitterer also dealt star running back Christian McCaffery to the San Francisco 49ers during the 2022 season for a trio of early-round picks in the upcoming NFL draft and a fifth-round pick in 2024. McCaffery produced more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 21 touchdowns in 2023.
The Panthers made additional requests to interview Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown and Chiefs VP of football operations Brandt Tilis on Monday.
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The Panthers have reportedly begun putting in their requests to interview GM candidates.
We have our first three names in the Carolina Panthers’ 2024 search for a new general manager.
Here’s the trio of initial candidates, as reported on Monday by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and FOX Sports’ Peter Schrager:
The Bucs’ front office has a ton of talent, and two notable names could become general managers of their own in the coming years.
In a business as large as the National Football League, change is inevitable. Whether it be at the player-level or in the front office, the NFL world is constantly undergoing transition. Those who are the best at their jobs are the ones who can seamlessly adapt to that change.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the more impressive front offices in the NFL. Led by general manager Jason Licht, Tampa Bay’s front office made headlines in 2020 and secured perhaps the biggest free agency addition in NFL history in seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
The work done by Bucs front office has garnered respect amongst the rest of the NFL as they near their fourth consecutive playoff appearance. The performances by a few staffers in particular have put themselves in contention for future GM positions.
Sports Illustrated writer Albert Breer compiled a list of 29 front office staffers who he believes are “Hot Names to Watch as Future NFL GMs.” The list included two Bucs assistant GMs, John Spytek and Mike Greenberg.
Here’s what Breer wrote about each of Tampa Bay’s staffers:
[Greenberg] came up on the cap side, but he has done more crossing over as he closes out his 14th season with the Tampa organization. For years, the Bucs had the NFL’s cleanest cap, and Greenberg was able to help them pivot to a win-now model during Tom Brady’s three years. But this year came with a big reset of the cap. Greenberg also brings experience working in the league office, which will appeal to some owners.
[Spytek] would be there with Borgonzi, Hortiz, McClay and Peters on the highest of this list. Spytek is another experienced evaluator who has worked for the league’s best organizations. His first full-time job in the league was for the Eagles. He then was hired by Mike Holmgren and the late Tom Heckert in Cleveland, and spent three years (and won a Super Bowl) with Elway in Denver. In Tampa he’s been alongside Jason Licht in building a championship roster, and luring his former college teammate Tom Brady to Florida.
It isn’t rumored that either Bucs assistant GM is looking for a position outside of Tampa Bay. However, this isn’t the first time there have been reports about each contending for a head GM position.
Spytek was interviewed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in May 2022 for a GM position, and Greenberg has been rumored to be in the mix of different GM positions before he was promoted to assistant GM by the Bucs in 2021.
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Mike Greenberg is completely over the CFP selection committee: “The system stinks!”.
Mike Greenberg says he’s tired of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s shenanigans.
On Sunday, there was A LOT of chatter about the four teams headed to the college football playoffs. Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama all have a chance at post-season glory, but the selection of those teams hasn’t come without backlash.
Georgia tumbled out of consideration after a stunning loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship. Florida State was also bounced despite having a perfect regular season record and winning the ACC Championship without its leader, Jordan Travis.
Greenberg threw his hat in the conversation on Monday for why he thinks the selection committee got it wrong. Pointedly, he did not hold back.
.@Espngreeny went OFF on the selection committee's process to pick the final four teams in the CFP:
"You know what happened yesterday? Football became figure skating." pic.twitter.com/0zfKvvKgjl
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 4, 2023
Feature image courtesy of ESPN.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg reacted to Dabo Swinney’s interaction with a radio caller.
Dabo Swinney had one of those moments on during his radio show Monday night going all-out on a caller who asked why he’s getting paid as much as he does just to for the Tigers to go 4-4.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg has been around for a while and reacted to this call with the fan named Tyler. Greenberg understands where Swinney was coming from during this call.
“I don’t have any problem with anything he said, maybe till the very end,” Greenberg said. “The ‘you can apply for the job’ part I think I could live without. But I do also understand his being frustrated. But all the stuff about going through his stats, I mean basically the equivalent of ‘Google me,’ I’m good with.”
“I still am largely on his side. There’s stuff in that I don’t like. But I think I get most of it.”
Greenberg didn’t stop there. He discussed what he thought of Swinney’s contract and what he has been able to do with the Tigers.
“It is an enormous contract, and he’s done a great job there… He’s not one of my favorite people, but you’ve got to give credit where it’s due. Dabo Swinney has done a magnificent job,” Greenberg said.
“Clemson never was, in my recollection, what he made them. Now, the last couple of years, it has not been what their fans have come to count on or have been sort of conditioned to expect based upon that little five-year run where they genuinely were as good as Alabama. Dabo Swinney and Clemson were as good as Alabama and Nick Saban for whatever that was, four, five years… I think Dabo Swinney has done an outstanding coaching job there despite so many of the things he has said and done, with which I have taken issue.”
Check out the video below if you’d like to watch Greenberg’s reaction.
“They are ruining that kid because of complete organizational incompetence.”
Nobody in the NFL has a worse month than the Chicago Bears.
The Bears’ first two games of 2023 have been an absolute train wreck. Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers unraveled them in Week 1. The offensive line surrendered four sacks, and the Bears didn’t see the red zone until the back half of the third quarter.
They didn’t fare much better against Baker Mayfield and the Bucs. The team punted a staggering five times and allowed six sacks. Brutal.
It’s been so bad that even quarterback Justin Fields spoke up about what he feels is causing some of the team’s woes.
Now, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, who would know a thing or two about quarterback struggles as a Jets fan, is vouching for Fields.
"They are ruining that kid because of complete organizational incompetence. That place is a dumpster fire." –@Espngreeny on Justin Fields and the Bears 👀 pic.twitter.com/2GUoiRk5Vt
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 21, 2023
Greenberg did not hold back on how he feels the Bears are failing Fields. “Everything they are doing is wrong,” said the host, completely frazzled.
Greenberg admittedly says Fields plays a role in some of the chaos, but he doesn’t blame Fields for speaking up.
The sky might continue falling for the organization. On Sunday, the Bears take on the Chiefs and a defensive line that is a destroyer of souls.
Good luck.
Feature image courtesy of ESPN.
It’s brutal for him and every other Jets fan.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, as you may know, is a HUGE New York Jets diehard.
How huge? He’s been willing to sacrifice a toe for Aaron Rodgers, and on Monday night, his wife Stacy captured Greeny’s devastated reactions to him watching Rodgers get injured just a few plays into what ended up as a Jets win.
But Greenberg had to go on the air the next morning, and on Tuesday, we got to see it all unfold for him as Get Up! started with the host cutting the intro — it was kind of awkward, to be honest. Then, he gave us a more honest reaction:
Mike Greenberg can't even get through the Get Up intro because of Aaron Rodgers' injury in the season opener. pic.twitter.com/1Jv1oDdBEc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 12, 2023
Greeny: "In all honesty, people want to know how I feel and the truth is there is no way in the world I have processed this." pic.twitter.com/y5uTzqqjeR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 12, 2023
Yup. That sums it up for every Jets fan.
