Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper’s patience with general manager Scott Fitterer evaporated three seasons after the executive was hired to run the organization’s football operations.
Tepper fired Fitterer on Monday after the Panthers posted a 2-15 record in the 2023 season. The team finished the campaign with back-to-back shutout losses.
“As we move forward with the new direction for our franchise, I have made the decision that Scott Fitterer will no longer serve as our general manager,” Panthers owner David Tepper said in a team-issued statement. “I appreciate Scott’s efforts and wish the best for him and his family.”
Fitterer — who was hired in the middle of the Matt Rhule era in January 2021 — was granted just 11 games with his second head coach, Frank Reich, who was dismissed in Week 13 following a 1-10 start to his lone campaign with the franchise. Interim head coach Chris Tabor, also the special teams coordinator, went 1-5 in the final six games of the season.
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Fitterer, who turned 50 in November, spearheaded the effort to trade up for the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL Draft, ultimately dealing a pair of first-round picks, a pair of second-round picks and wideout DJ Moore to the Chicago Bears for the top selection. The pick was then used on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.
With the Panthers finishing with the worst record in the NFL, Carolina will hand the No. 1 overall pick to Chicago in April, as part of the trade up for the selection of Young. The Bears are also due the Panthers’ 2025 second-round pick from the swap.
Along with the blockbuster trade, Fitterer signed several veteran free agents to make the most of Young’s transition to the NFL. Wideouts Adam Thielen and DJ Chark, safety Vonn Bell, tight end Hayden Hurst, running back Miles Sanders, defensive tackle Shy Tuttle and pass rusher Justin Houston were among the well-paid recruits brought in by Fitterer and the front office, with some coming at the recommendation of Reich’s then-highly-touted coaching staff.
It could be argued that all but Thielen failed to live up to expectations.
Chark was inconsistent throughout the campaign, Hurst was ineffective in his role and spent the home stretch on injured reserve with a concussion, Houston was cut in December after spending half of his time with the Panthers on the injury list and Bell also missed multiple games due to injury. Sanders, who signed the biggest running back deal in 2023 free agency, was demoted after the Week 6 bye and never regained his role, as Chuba Hubbard succeeded him as a pleasant surprise during the second half of the season.
Fitterer also used five draft picks to select a compact rookie class. Along with Young, who had an up-and-down rookie campaign, the Panthers worked through growing pains from wideout Jonathan Mingo, the second-round pick who was inconsistent and never scored in 2023 despite receiving healthy playing time as an immediate starter.
Third-round pick, pass rusher DJ Johnson, fourth-round pick, guard Chandler Zavala, and fifth-round pick, defensive back Jammie Robinson, all received unsteady workloads with similarly underwhelming results. Each rookie missed at least one game this season, with Johnson and Robinson being healthy scratches in early-season games. Zavala finished the season on injured reserve after poor play and two separate injuries kept him out of the lineup.
With a new regime in place, Fitterer also had to take quite a few losses on draft picks that he made during the Rhule era.
While Fitterer and Reich had well-documented collaboration in creating the coaching staff, assembling the roster and tracking down Young as their face of the franchise, the GM was forced to cut several young players who arrived under his watch.
Of the 17 draft picks the Panthers used from 2021 to 2022, only nine are still employed by the team or its practice squad. Only first-round pick, Ikem Ekwonu, and sixth-round picks, pass rusher Amare Barno and offensive lineman Cade Mays, remain from the 2022 draft class.
The Panthers were 14-37 under Fitterer’s leadership. While Fitterer only received final say on the 53-man roster this offseason, his tenure was marred by coaching turmoil, quarterback issues, poor return on draft picks, and faltering free-agent gambles.
Fitterer’s Carolina legacy is also tied to the trade departures of a pair of young offensive stalwarts, Moore and running back Christian McCaffrey. The ex-GM also turned down a trade offer of two first-round picks and a third-round pick from the Los Angeles Rams for Pro Bowl edge rusher Brian Burns ahead of the 2022 NFL trade deadline. Burns has yet to sign a contract extension and the team could be forced to use a franchise tag on him to keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Despite his shortcomings on the roster, Fitterer did sign the likes of Thielen, guard Austin Corbett, linebacker Frankie Luvu and safety Xavier Woods in free agency. He was also part of the front office that identified young players like running back Chuba Hubbard, tight end Tommy Tremble and Mays in the draft over the past three years. Since the Panthers have several holes to fill in their depth chart, Fitterer’s personnel touch — much like Rhule’s reign — will likely still be felt by the new regime next season.
The Panthers will now move forward with their second GM search within three years. While the team could consider assistant GM Dan Morgan or VP of football administration Samir Suleiman for the GM post, there stands a good chance that Tepper will look outside of the organization for his next top decision-maker. But with no first-round pick in April and Young still figuring things out, the opening might not be that appealing to an up-and-coming executive.
Tepper has shown a lack of patience with his leadership teams since arriving in Charlotte. He has fired three Panthers head coaches and two Carolina GMs, including Fitterer, since acquiring the franchise in 2018. In his first two years of ownership of Charlotte FC, he has fired two head coaches and just hired a third.
This story was originally published January 08, 2024 8:21 AM.
