Dave Gettleman gave an end of season press conference to the media today that was also streamed live on Panthers.com. I took some notes as he was giving it, here they are in their entirety, with my comments in bold beneath them when I have one. Much of this will be paraphrased, if you want to hear the full interview, it is available on the Panthers website. Questions asked by reporters are in italics.
Dave Gettleman is excited about Worley and Bradberry: Says we matched up Bradberry on 11 and 13 (Jones and Evans) and the results were good. Happy about their development
When i (Gettelman) was in New York we spent money on Burress, Antonio Pierce, etc. Every year is different in approach to free agency. Going to use all available avenues in free agency to develop this team. Bottom line: you are competing dollar wise with 31 other teams on players, and you have to be in a position where if you have a player you want to keep, you can do it. "Going to shop intelligent" in the open market.
Translation: Don’t expect a huge signing, but don’t expect the bargain basement.
Any Top priorities in free agency? KK Short? We are in evaluation mode. Don't quite know where the cap is going. We will evaluate the roster in a couple of weeks.
You have the 8th pick in the draft, any early priorities? Emphasized best player available at 8. Gettleman says draft is heavy in safeties and corners, good group of DEs, good group of RBs.
This was the most open Gettleman was in the whole press conference. Expect a BPA approach, but he likes the preliminary options at S, CB, DE, and RB
Feeling on depth at Offensive Tackle? “Not a day goes by whether I dont question whether I have given Ron enough players.” Talks about injuries at tackle. Oher goes down, Daryl comes in (says he had quality year) “Love my hog mollies, but high ankle injuries take time.” Issues at Center, Gino played well when Ryan went out, but then of course he got hurt. Dave really really happy with Tyler Larsen. Feels good about backup players. “They had to play, and they did a hell of a job. Matsko doing a great job.”
Asked about Cam Newton: Team could not get a rhythm going. Too many moving parts, too many injuries.
Asked again about Cam's numbers going way down: Football is the ultimate team game, no one guy wins, no one guy loses. Everyone has to get better including me. Everyone is trying to improve each year including me.
Asked if Cam is the guy who can get us there (to a championship): Visibly angry. Tells the story of chicken little.
Gettleman was PISSED at this question. While it was being asked he said under his breath but into the mic “he already got us there once on his new contract”. After the question was asked he laughed angrily, said “Hold on a second” and took a big drink of water, had a long pause, then told the stroy of Chicken Little. Basically, Gettleman was making it clear this was a stupid question.
Asked about Cams helmet to helmet hits: Officiating in the NFL isn't easy. 22 people getting bigger, strong, faster. No margin for error due to armchair officials. Its hard.
Asked about Steve Smith: Way above my pay grade. (2x)
Gettleman was asked twice about whether Steve Smith would be invited back to retire as a Panther. Gave the same answer both times. Largely indicated he was NOT touching that topic, and that the decision was to come from JR.
Asked if he would hesitate to use the Franchise Tag after what happened with Norman: (laughing) Gonna use all the tools we can to get better.
Commit to Oher?: Can't know that right now. We will evaluate. Obviously he was injured for a long time, and we’ll need to see where he is at.
Asked about potential Staff changes: We have a darn good staff. Ron is going to determine staff changes if there are any. This staff gave us a super bowl berth last season.
Don’t expect any changes unless a coach leaves on his own merit. Sounds like Gettleman is giving Rivera the freedom to handle his coordinators and assistants.
Cam is not as mobile as he used to be, is that changing our gameplan from a roster perspective entering free agency and the draft?: We gotta evaluate. Getting into the draft, we talk about fit. Does this guy fit our scheme? We struggle with that up until the moment we hand in the card.
No concerns about Luke Kuechly’s health going forward.
Asked about evaluations: Evaluate the season, not the final game. Evaluate the whole body of work. Can't panic and make knee jerk decisions. Watched 25-30 games worth of snaps on Michael Oher before signing him, did not make the call based on his single season in Tennessee.
Asked about Cam again and his performance: Every person should always have a sense of urgency. But you cannot panic. This is not for the faint of heart. Cam is 28. Not 37.
Asked again about coaches: This is a damn good coaching staff. Don't expect it to change.