The Carolina Panthers are officially hiring Dan Morgan as their new president of football operations and general manager. The move comes after the Panthers cleaned house and let go of former general manager Scott Fitterer and former head coach Frank Reich.
Morgan, a former NFL player and long-time Panthers front office member, will look to right the ship of the team with the worst record in the NFL in 2023. Why did Carolina choose him?
Why Was Dan Morgan Hired as Carolina’s New General Manager?
The move, announced on Monday afternoon, put into motion the Panthers’ new approach to their front office. Morgan has been a part of the Panthers front office for the last three years as assistant general manager. He’s now getting promoted to the top.
We have hired Dan Morgan as our President of Football Operations / General Manager.https://t.co/VYsUnAL2sG
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) January 22, 2024
Before his time as an executive, Morgan was an NFL linebacker, playing for the Panthers from 2001-2007 after being selected in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. During his NFL career, he started 59 games and had 390 total tackles, 18 tackles for loss, seven sacks, five interceptions, and three forced fumbles.
His executive career began shortly after his NFL career ended. He joined the Seattle Seahawks as a scouting intern in 2010. He then spent the next seven years working his way up to director of pro personnel.
Following his time with Seattle, he joined the Buffalo Bills as director of player personnel from 2018 to 2020. During that time, the Bills went 29-19 and selected players such as Josh Allen, Ed Oliver, and Tremaine Edmunds, among others.
“Dan has a thorough knowledge of our football personnel and a clear vision to take us where we all want to go,” owner David Tepper said. “We know he will attack this opportunity with the same intensity he did as a Panthers player.”
The Panthers’ job won’t be easy for Morgan, as the team holds just six draft picks with none coming in the first round. The team traded away its 2024 first-round pick (the No. 1 pick), DJ Moore, and a 2023 first-round pick (ninth overall) in exchange for the 2023 first-overall pick, which they used to select quarterback Bryce Young.
Young struggled in 2023, passing for just 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions during his rookie campaign; C.J. Stroud, who went just one pick later to the Houston Texans, passed for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, and five interceptions and is the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Morgan was a part of the group that decided to pick Young over Stroud, a potentially important factor in the decision to hire him as the new general manager. Despite his rookie struggles, Young could still find major improvement in the future similar to Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While the Panthers lack draft capital, they have a handful of young players to either build around or earn capital from. Currently under contract, the Panthers have Derrick Brown, Jonathan Mingo, Ikem Ekwonu, Jaycee Horn, Jeremy Chinn, and others. However, star defensive end Brian Burns is an impending free agent along with Chinn.
The Panthers are also set to have over $31 million in cap space in 2024, according to Spotrac. They can also free up more space with other potential roster moves.
Now that the Panthers have hired their general manager, they will shift their attention toward the head coach. So far, the Panthers have interviewed 11 different candidates, including Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, among many others.
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