Per Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer, the Panthers experienced some turnover in their scouting department following the 2016 NFL Draft.
Assistant college scouting director Ryan Cowden is leaving to take a position in the Tennessee Titans’ front office and college scout John Peterson is retiring, according to league sources.
The moves represent the first turnover in the Panthers’ scouting department since general manager Dave Gettleman was hired in 2013. And depending on how the team fills the vacancies, there could be additional fallout.
Unfortunately, when your team finds itself consistently unearthing gems, you're going to have other teams poking around at your scouts to see who they can snipe. The Panthers did the same with Dave Gettleman, who was the Pro Personnel Director for the New York Giants for 12 years before becoming Senior Pro Personnel Analyst for one year and then accepting the GM job here. Cowden is taking his first step towards following in those foot steps.
While there's been so much attention on Gettleman, his staff has a lot to do with effectively finding talent in the later rounds and in the rookie free agent pool. Peterson will retire and Cowden will try to pave his way to a GM job. We should wish them well.