In the first draft of his tenure, Carolina Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman did something predecessor Marty Hurney never did. Heck, Gettleman did something Bill Polian never did. He did something Dom Capers and George Seifert did in the brief windows when coaches held general-manager powers in Carolina.
What happened with the Carolina Panthers on Monday morning is a reminder that the NFL is a cold, hard business and the win-loss record is all that really matters. The Panthers fired general manager Marty Hurney.
Time for a team-by-team look at the Thursday morning headlines from around the division: TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS Dory LeBlanc writes that the Tampa Bay front four is looking for a performance similar to what it had against Dallas when it plays Washington this week.
Let’s catch up on a bunch of roster moves around the NFC South. -- The Carolina Panthers signed veteran defensive tackle Dwan Edwards and released defensive tackle Terrell McClain. Edwards was a second-round pick by Baltimore in 2004 and most recently was with Buffalo.
Since last week’s signing of New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, it’s been a pretty quiet few days around the NFC South. Well, that just changed. The NFL just announced that Carolina defensive tackle Andre Neblett will be suspended without pay for the season’s first four games for violating league policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The NFL draft is over and the Carolina Panthers have added at least one new starter. That’s linebacker Luke Kuechly, who was drafted with the No. 9 overall pick. It just remains to be seen if he’ll start in the middle or on the outside.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the NFC South winners in the NFL draft, according to ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. The Bucs and the Philadelphia Eagles were the only teams Kiper graded with an A on their overall draft, in this Insider post.
With the No. 9 pick in the Blogger Mock Draft Live, I just selected Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly for the Carolina Panthers. I went into the draft thinking I would target Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and Kuechly.
We’re a little more than two months away from the NFL draft, but we’re about to enter a key time. The scouting combine starts later this week and that’s when you’ll see the stock of various prospects rise or fall.
The NFC South is a division without a dominant defensive tackle. But I think it’s fair to say Atlanta’s Corey Peters and Jonathan Babineaux, New Orleans’ Sedrick Ellis and Tampa Bay’s Brian Price were the best the NFC South had to offer in 2011.
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